It’s not the ritual, it’s the secrecy. Any religion, religion in this context is an organized group that makes you affirm the existence of a deity or spiritual power and a moral code dictated by that deity, makes a good start in my eyes if there are no secrets. Through and through. If I can walk into a place of worship, ask a bunch of questions, decide yay/nay and walk out with no obligation is a religion I will worry less about.

I don’t care about special clothing requirements and the like, but I do care about ritual that is shrouded in secrecy and only available to a minority of a religion’s membership. Again, it’s not the ritual, it’s the secrecy. That does unsettle me regarding any religion that bars anyone from finding out everything about it and that’s all I need to know.