"Do not accept what you hear by report, do not accept tradition, do not accept a statement because it is found in your books, nor because it is in accord with your belief, nor because it is the saying of your teacher. Be lamps unto yourselves." – Gautama Buddha.
This is why I am more interested in Buddhism, despite my confident atheism, than in other religious traditions. It offers a sort of "freedom of conscience" that e.g. Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism or Islam don't appear to offer. When I say, "I'm an atheist," I have had more than one Buddhist answer, simply, "That's OK." It's hard to imagine a Christian saying that.