Reviewing the last few pages, I think its time for a mod-stick..... :P
@Cipher: I've actually examined Islam fairly closely (since the Abrahamic religion connectivity made it an easy early stop). Like many religions, there are aspects that are "good" but being "good" they're also somewhat universal to all religions (altruism, golden rule, etc). There are many interpretations (just like in the J-C part of the J-C-I) that however, basically demean, abuse, or incite violence to other human beings. All three of the religions have long histories of this abuse and misuse. Islam, in its early form, was interestingly extremely pro-science -- much of the mathematics, astronomy, and land use knowledge came during its early years. Unfortunately, there are virulent strains in all 3 religions that are anti-science, anti-intellectual. We just have to pick up the news to see examples in all three religions. The underlying mythologies of the J-C-I religions also just simply didn't work if I took them literally. So I kept moving... I examined older European religions (Kelt, Norse, folk) interesting but depressing. I looked to the East with a brief stop in Native America. Here, I still found violence but it was more rarely religious fueled. It was usually resource competition or greed as the stated driver rather than resorting to "our god is on our side" nonsense. Trying to keep this short (could spend pages on each sentence) but at the end, only Zen Buddhism seemed to actually fit most of the puzzle parts for how to view my reality. Even that I find lacking in some ways as Buddhism often incorporates some of the pre-existing dogma of whatever region it moves into. The animism portion of my position is more of a playful anthropomorphism on the organic and inorganic instances of the universe. Ascribing intent to them makes sense if you simply view self-aware life (humans and animals) as the highest formulation of arising self-organizing complexity of matter. Hurricanes, dust-devils, ants, plants, dogs, people, viruses are all instances of complexity along a scale with various levels of intent.
If your religion works for you and you don't mistreat others as a result of it... that's great. If a belief directly conflicts with evidence though.... a religion should be enduring enough to incorporate the new data. Much of the holy books of the J-C-I faiths have many rules that most modern followers ignore.... because they either do not make sense or they permit poor treatment that contradicts the core tenets of altruism and the golden rule.
Example:
Quote:
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A marriage shall be considered valid only if the wife is a virgin. If the wife is not a virgin, she shall be executed. Deuteronomy 22:13-21
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directly contradicts turning the other cheek, golden rule, forgiveness... but more vengeful adherents of the faith leap on it.