Picking a Religion

I'm not religious. And yet most of the folks on the planet are. Many of them are quite serious about it. Perhaps I should give some thought to this. How would I go about it? I would have to somehow determine that one is correct and the others false. I will need some criterion to use to evaluate the various choices.

I suppose I could travel, thought I hate traveling, to do a through search for people who can help me. I might travel to Tehran or Riyadh. I could go to Jerusalem or Tel Aviv, or Mumbai or Delhi. I could go to Houston or Des Moines. I feel sure I could find four folks who adhere to the four largest religions. Indeed I think I can find four folks who are sure their religious choice is correct beyond all criticism and that the other three choices are irrevocably incorrect.

So I put the question to each of these good folk. Why should I chose your religion and not one of the others? Do you have a test that will show that you are correct and the others not? Is there a test that I can apply to each choice that will show me the truth?

I'm think I know the answer to this question. The question turns on belief. Each of these good folk will tell me that all the benefits come to those who believe. I'm not sure how you go about believing each of these religions in turn. I'm guessing this idea would offend some folks. And yet how do I evaluate these choices?

Indeed I'm likely to leave these four good folks to talk among themselves, with the hope that some of the similar conversations do not lead to the results history has all too many records of.

For myself I may take up my copy of the Father of History. Recent analysis has shown he got a lot of things correct.