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Regarding starting religions... if you can find a copy, and if you like science fiction, I think you will really enjoy Sixth Column by Robert Heinlein. It is dated but it is really a great story. Some really cool weapons, too - but none of them man-portable.

This may be off-topic but the part about the dagger reminds me of a science-fiction story from the 1950s.

Briefly, on a distant planet in the far future, a Sikh police officer confronted a group of outraged citizens (an armed mob at that point) outside the jail where a very bad guy was being held.

They stopped and talked, and the leader said he wanted to come into the police station, with a couple of his friends, to discuss the situation with the top officers - just wanted to make sure the bad-guy did not slip away, make sure the cops held on to him for trial.

So the Sikh officer says, ok you can come in, but no weapons. The other guy looks at the Sikh's dagger on his belt, and the Sikh officer gets the point and says, "Sidearms do not count as weapons" - so the citizens were limited to holstered pistols for their visit (no rifles or energy weapons).

The line "Sidearms do not count as weapons" struck, me and has stuck in my mind all these years. Sidearms are normal accouterments that nobody ought to feel threatened by.

As for the original story - I do hope the family sues and wins, but that will not give them their peace of mind back.

Regards,
Andrew