I once worked with a brilliant computer scientist who was a member of the Flat Earth Society (yes, there really is such an organization). I thought, for some time, that he joined just for a laugh, but when I suggested that, I was subject to an hour of irate declaration of the "proof" that the Earth was flat. Afterward, I limited my side of the discussion of organizations like this to a positive head shake, and "non-comments" (like "Oh" or "interesting").

Death is a pretty imposing eventuality every philosophy or religion has to deal with, no doubt about it. What I have found is that most people's view of death also strongly correlates with their views on life. Those who believe that this life is all there is to existence are generally non-religious (I don't necessarily use the word atheist). Those who believe this life leads to another are generally religious and which religion they select is based on how they view the afterlife.

The question is this: what is the purpose of life - my life specifically? If my consciousness is only fleeting, there become zero repercussions for my actions other than how I feel at that precise moment. If my consciousness is permanent and death is not the end, it leads one to ask what the next life would be like so I can prepare for it. That to me is the crucial decision for each of us to make.

"Even the pilgrams came from Europe not for freedom but to impose their brand of religion on all others."

Can you justify such a claim? The Puritans, Quakers, and other Protestant religions left Europe to escape the tyranny of the Catholic Church or the Church of England - both "state-sponsored" institutions of religion and the primary cause for the Establishment Clause of the US Constitution.

"if even one of these is right, all the others are wrong."

Precisely. But it does make you wonder: given the sheer volume, is one of them right and how would you find it if it were there?

There are numerous issues with the origin of the Koran. You can start with the Wikipedia version, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of... , which tries to present all sides of the story. The only existing copies of the Koranic writings have been dated to more than 150 years after the death of the Prophet (except, strangely enough, the few verses found inscribed on the walls of the Dome of the Rock). Complete copies containing all of the surahs in the modern Koran date from around the tenth century.

Much of modern Islam (particularly the more extreme variants) rely on the Isnas and Hadiths, which were added to the belief scripture as "previously undocumented" statements made by the Prophet. Since most of these were written well after the death of the Prophet (several centuries), and the Koran specifically admonishes anyone that additions are forbidden (like stated in the Book of Revelations in the Christian New Testament), it suggests that they were creations incorporating practices of ethnic groups or tribes to aid in conversion. One reference that cites this is here: http://livingoasis.org/wp-content/upload... .

I've purposely left out even more skeptical Koranic histories compiled by Christian Pentecostals, as they suggest the Koran was an act of Satan. Because of that perspective, one has to question even what may be correct information they present.

One thing that makes the Koran unique is that the order of the surahs (chapters) is not chronological in the order they were revealed to the Prophet, but in the order they were assembled by its writers. Originally the believers felt that oral recitation was the way that the Prophet's words should be passed, as that was the way he spread the Word, but after the deaths of many of the original followers in battle, the fear that the faith might be lost if not documented is why a holy scripture of Islam exists at all.

Jan's question.
On the death of M none of the Koran was written. It was held in the memories of the followers. Now today people cannot remember a line, we see well known presidents make frequent use of teleprompters. But then, using memory was common. At that time there were three major schools on the teaching of M. The words were written only some decades later. The opinion of those who are fluent in Arabic is that the versions agreed very closely. This is some evidence that the cruelty and violence are authentic.

Maybe it's time to set up a website where people can start religions, set up suitable beliefs and seek subjects to join the religion. Let's get some competition. The beliefs can be drawn from the "ether" to give them more meaning. There can be priests and bishops and adonation system. The "god" resides in the ether and can send down forgiveness. I could go on...