Here is another example of how not to choose religious belief. In Saturday’s LA Times, Roseanne Welch explains that, because of some bad experiences as a child in Catholic school, she came to be a Catholic who rejects large portions of what the church teaches:
In the long run, my experiences taught me to question authority. My
experiences also made me what we call a "cafeteria Catholic" — I choose
the parts I want; I always assumed Jesus wanted smart followers.
Despite Sister Monica’s best efforts to the contrary, at that little
church and school, I learned to think for myself.
In the end,
I liked my old church so much that I held my wedding there, and now my
son attends a local Catholic school. I’ve learned that your family is
where you learn what’s right and wrong. The church may teach against
homosexuality, but I know my son won’t share those ideas because his
own experience with my gay friends and relatives will teach him to
judge people as Jesus did — by whether they treat others as they would
like to be treated.
Now I certainly think that Mrs. Welch was treated wrongly as a child, and there may be very good reasons for rejecting parts of what the Catholic church teaches, but one of those reasons is never, "I don’t like those parts." Reject them if you have good reasons to think they are false (as the Reformers did, for example), but don’t reject them out of subjective preference.
Jesus never said anything about wanting "smart" disciples, and he certainly didn’t consider those smart who decided to follow Him only part of the time or who wanted to obey only a few of his teaching. And as for judging, I think we will all find out that when He comes again, Jesus, the righteous judge, King of the Universe, will be a little more foreboding than we have been led to believe.