Hi FB and welcome. I have long passed the point where the question, what's the alternative has any meaning for me. Not sure it ever did. When I was a 'sister' I was obsessed with truth. I still am. There isn't an alternative to truth is there?
I hated the way JWs talked about scientists. They can do nothing right can they. It's like people building computers, finding medical cures and inventing labour saving devices are rubbish all because of the theory of evolution. I hated that attitude when I was in.
When I left I had to have a look at evolution to see why the WTS was so wound up about it and I found I had been lied to. For example there are far more fossils than just what would fit on a dining table. Remember that one?
Are they closer to the truth than most religions. If you're talking basic Christian belief in love and treating people well I would say they're far from the truth of that idea. They just don't understand unconditional love, they despise everyone who isn't a witness and they don't give to any charity or try and relieve suffering.
If you mean are they closer to what reality is, they take a two thousand year old book literally. That's just silly. They are just being ignorant and stubborn about how you study the past and how you try and understand the universe. We need to use all the information at our disposal in the world and learn as much as we can instead of rejecting information saying It's from Satan!
Just keep reading and don't be afraid of what you might find. You want to know what reality is don't you! I certainly do. It's never easy to leave that lovely world of hoping for a paradise where we will all have a beautiful house in a forest by a lake with a lion on the lawn. Be brave, is all I can say, the answers might be more amazing than you can even imagine in your wildest dreams.