As others say on here there are many variations of Bhuddsim ,seems to vary by country and culture. It not an organised religion like Christianity with an official hierarchy.
I went to Thailand on holiday and loved seeing Bhuddist monks wander about the countryside with just a yellow robe and few belongings. I kinda envied their apparent freedo;,no ties,no cares, no belongings,just the open road and the next adventure in the following town. No idea if that s how it works but it does seem ideal.

I also found a book in my hotel room,called "How to be a good Bhuddist" and I read it. It basically was a rant against fake Bhuddists who though claiming to practise it really did not practice what was being taught by Bhuddist teachers. Mainly the problem seemed to be that people were still placing far too much importance on the material things in life. When all good Bhuddists should know that this life and what in it is not important,there is a far greater meaning out there to be worrying about such temporary earthly matters. Everyone is living this life like it is all that matters,which is a mistake.
To visit such an exotic country with its very strange but charming ways and then read this lamenting Bhuddist guru berating his flock seemed rather familar,......made me chuckle.

Buddhism is more about a way of being in the world than it is a religion. It's more about allowing yourself to be present with whatever is. Unfortunately there are some "fundamentalist Buddhists" out there, and some who go to "spiritual materialism" - people who turn the pursuit of spirituality into an ego-building endeavor, which misses the point. Buddhism is about getting away from ego.

Buddhism still views women as sub species so I'm not getting onboard with that. But yes, comparing to Abrahamic religions it wins

I remember being depressed when Sri Lanka had to finally put a stop to the Tamils. It was the first experience I had of Buddhist war.

well at least Buddhism is based on a real person i guess

My feelings about Buddhism are similar to yours, especially since there is no belief in a creator god. You can believe in one if you want, but it isn't important in the path to enlightenment, so you can be an atheist at the same time.

I became familiar with the religion while I was teaching in Seoul and even practiced it to some extent while I was there. Hell, I was even married in a Buddhist temple while there, so Korean Buddhism is the sort I'm most familiar with. Each place the religion migrated to, however, it incorporated elements of earlier local religions, so as a religion, there are many different sects and variations. For example, at any Korean Buddhist temple, you will find a sub-temple to a Mountain Spirit (San-Shin), a holdover from an earlier shamanism.

Although I have fond memories of my experience with Korean Buddhism, I have gravitated to a more secular form (minus karma and reincarnation) advocated by a Western former monk, Stephen Batchelor. His book "Buddhism Without Beliefs" is worth a read, explaining that agnosticism is the essence of Buddhism.

I consider myself to be a Buddhist. In that I try to follow what are supposed to be the teachings of a man known as Siddartha Goatama who eventually y came to be know as the Buddha. (Buddha is really a title meaning 'the awakened' -it wasn't his actual name )
I follow a 'version' that is derived from The Theravada tradition but like all religions there are as many variations as there are grains of sand. I can't really speak about any of the other traditions but Theravada in general is pretty much common sense though some parts of it are a bit far out with 'hungry ghosts' and rebirth into different realms/dimensions however the version I follow doesn't really bother with any of that. It doesn't deny the possible existence of the harder to beleive stuff but more says 'you can't know one way or another and anyway how does knowing or not knowing help you with the here and now of being a better person?
So I don't give all that stuff much thought what I DO put a lot of effort into is the things that I have direct experience of and I know that practicing those things is good for me and the people around me -and eventually..... well who knows?
We follow 5 precepts as a minimum : we try not to kill, don't take what is not given, avoid sexual misconduct, avoid false and divisive speech and intoxicant
Anyhow I could go on and on.... but hopefully you'll get the gist and the interweb is full of places to find out more.
There's plenty of violent history plus what's going on in Myanmar at this moment is certainly not something to be proud of. But just as you can't blame every Muslim for 9-11 or every Christian for the world trade centre....

have a history of violence just as bad maybe worse in comparison.

It is more of being at peace than a religion. That’s what I’ve been told, anyway.

Buddhism is really not a religion per se, they do not have a god but it is a meditative process to find inner peace. At least that is my take on it.