Atheism vs. the Quran

[DeistPaladin]

So what is Muhammad then? A liar or a lunatic? And how do you know this?

I don't know Muhammad any more than I know Jesus. That's the first problem I have with the trilemma. We have nothing to go on in our evaluation of the character of either individual except for what amounts to, at best, folklore and, at worst, mythology.

My point is that the trilemma oversimplifies a question about someone's character. It is possible for me to imagine a rascal who lies about being a god or speaking with a god but then utters some words on morality or even acts on occasion with compassion. The movie, "The Road to El Dorado" features a character who is rogue enough to claim to be a god and yet, his idealistic side comes out as the movie progresses and he tries to use his "divine influence" for good ends. It's not hard for me to imagine a possible character like him who continues to lie about being a prophet and yet be idealistic enough to think that influencing things for the better justifies this means.

Just to be understood here, I am not saying that such behavior is good or even justified. I'm saying that the dichotomy that he is either a demon or a saint with no middle ground is a false one.

Similarly, questions of sanity are just as complex as questions of character. Could Muhammad have had an "episode"? Could meditation in a cave by himself for an extended period have had an impact on his psyche that caused an episode (as indeed such things are possible)? When I was a little child, I thought I heard a ghost in our basement. Since we live in a modern age, I can conclude it was just childhood imagination. In a more primitive time, I might still believe in what I thought I heard. Does it mean I'm crazy because I had this one hallucination? Would it mean I am crazy if I lived in a superstitious, more ancient time and continued to believe what I heard was real?

There are also degrees between rock-solid sanity and gibbering-insanity. A prophet might be crazy enough to think he hears the voice of God and yet be sane enough to organize a church and speak some coherent platitudes. Jim Jones and David Koresh were likely crazy but that didn't prevent them from organizing a religion.

The trilemma is basically an effort to work toward a desired conclusion by strawmanning the other possibilities.

And secondly, your picture doesn't relate to Muhammad (pbuh) because never masqueraded as a God. He was only a messenger of God.

Same principle applies.