Z, I would never ridicule you but let me tell you a story. I was maybe 7 or 8 at a Christian Brothers School. IMO, they were wonderful, caring Brothers with many lay teachers. Something puzzled me and I asked one of the Brothers. And he said to me something along the lines "it is a question of faith". I remembered that but did not understand what he meant at that time but was too respectful to ask.
IMO, therein lies the problem. It is a question of faith regarding religion. The only time we will know is after the event. But having studied Mesopotamian History at Uni level (I had some spare units so thought why not
- best thing I did) my very strong view is that religion is a man-made construct arising from, broadly, the coming together of nomadic peoples and hence the need to have a set of "commandments" for people to live together peacefully.
BUT, and this is a BIG but - there are many religions where death is preceded by the arrival of generally two forms dressed in bright clothing to take you away. Now, for non-believers, THAT is scary, IMO!!
