Today is this year’s date of Buddha’s Birthday, a holiday in the Mahayana Buddhist calendar celebrating the birth of a man named Siddartha Gautama, who is said to have become enlightened and ascended to the status of Buddha (meaning “awakened one”). In time with this, I’d like to show some respect to Gautama himself.
Sure, I’m not a Buddhist, and I have some disagreements with some Buddhist teachings, but this isn’t really about the religion itself, or its doctrines/teachings. It’s about a man who spent a long portion of his life finding his own answers and following his own path, both in the process of asking questions, and in answering them.
As an individualist, I value walking one’s own path and finding one’s own answers, and having the strength to follow one’s own path. Siddartha Gautama did all three of those things, so I gotta show some respect. It’s not about religion, faith, creeds, or beliefs. It’s about Gautama’s dedication to his own path. For that, I offer my salute.
Besides, without Buddhism, where would all that kick-ass Buddhist religious art be?
Aleph's Heretical Domain 
I do not believe in personal Gods or religion. The former is a figment of mans imagination running wild, and latter is a tribal entity, designed and instituted for greed, power and control.
My hats off to Gautama, for showing the 4 noble truths and a life of middle path for all humankind, without the help from personal Gods. His message to all humankind, was beacon of light in a demonised Vedic world. 500 years later even Jesus(an Essene Judean) was a student of Gautama’s teachings, as he travelled with the merchant caravans along the silk road, during his 18 year absence from Judea.
What do you mean by a “demonised Vedic world”?