Is Religion full of it?

I hope not.

On the Sea of Galilee: We sand Awesome God and the sky began clearing. I looked out over the lake to the mountains with the sun peeking out of the clouds and I felt something. Reaffirmation of the knowledge that a higher power exists.
Today we witnessed a messianic Jew and his wife renew their wedding vows. He did so because he wanted to do it in the eyes of God. I’m not sure how I feel about the beliefs held by Messianic Jews- I really am not judging, especially with my strange view of religion. But, I wonder how the Jewish community views Messianic Jews. Are the beliefs in Jesus' divinity and being Jewish mutually exclusive?

Throughout the tour, these are some of the questions that I had problems answering. Readers, feel free to jump in on these.

Questions about Christianity:
1. Where did the other people of the Earth come from? (When Cane went away to other lands and met other people who were not mentioned in the creation story)
2. Why is Christianity so exclusive?
3. How influential was the politics of the Papal Conferences on the decisions of which books to include in the bible?
4. Why are not all the books included so we can make our own educated conclusions about the Bible?
5. Where are the excluded books and why are they still hidden?
6. Mary Magdalene’s book and several others claim that Mary Magdalene was Jesus’ wife – if this is true, does this affect Jesus’ divinity/perfect-ness.
7. If humans are inherently imperfect where do we get the idea that church and its hierarchical and organizational leadership is legitimate? (Jesus didn’t start the church- it was started for more than 250 years after his death- Paul and other followers of Jesus created ‘the church’ off of their interpretations of what they thought. Jesus was a Jew. Are the idea’s mutually exclusive?)
8. The trinity- history says the Catholic Church added in the concept of “the spirit”- is that true?? If so, why was it added?
9. Is it possible to be a Christian and not believe Jesus rose from the dead?
10. If God really knows our hearts, why is the profession of faith so important?
11. Is structure necessary? What role does the physical church play in my spirituality versus say believing tenants of other religions and trusting in my faith?

I wish everything came easily to me. I just cannot blindly follow. I have to know, you know? I need the history, the facts. I realize faith is not concrete- that is what it is faith but foundations are important as well. Without them, I don't see a point to believing.