Sage Sankara says:~ The scriptures dealing with rituals addressed to an ignorant person.+

Sage Sankara:~  VC~.61~ For one who has been bitten by the serpent of Ignorance, the only remedy is the knowledge of Brahman. Of what avail are the Vedas and (other) Scriptures, Mantras (sacred formulae), and medicines to such a one?

VC-  v6~ Let erudite scholars quote all the scripture, let Gods be invoked through sacrifices, let elaborate rituals be performed, let personal Gods be propitiated---yet, without the realization of one‘s identity with the Self, there shall be no liberation for the individual, not even in the lifetimes of a hundred Brahmas put together.

The belief of God is not God. Holding blind belief-based Gods is holding an illusion as a  reality because the belief is possible only within the realm of duality. Duality is merely an illusion from the ultimate standpoint.  

Without the blind belief-based God, the belief system holds no water.  Belief is not God. Belief needs a believer.  The believer needs to be born in this world. If the believer is born then he is part of the illusion.   Without the believer, there is no belief.  The believer and his world and his blind belief-based God are part of the illusion because the self is birth-less because the Self is non-dual. 

The one, which is born, lives, and dies, is not the self.    The innermost self is a formless substance and witness of the falsehood (universe or waking or illusion), which is the Soul or consciousness, consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth. 

Belief makes the Soul permanently remain in ignorance.  Ignorance makes the Soul experience the duality as reality. Belief implies duality. The duality is not reality.  Thus, the path of bhakti,  the path of karma, and the path of yoga are based on the dualistic perspective, therefore, they are the path of ignorance. Therefore, the seekers who are searching for ultimate truth or Brahman have to discard all the egocentric paths in order to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.  

Dogmas and beliefs, rituals, and ceremonies are the essences of the religion,  not of the spirituality. When religion has become merely a matter of external rituals and ceremonies. 

Religion hides the truth beyond form, time, and space.  Until the form, time and space are present the duality is present. The duality creates the illusory prison to the Soul, the Self.

Remember:~

Yajurveda – chapter- 32:~    God is Supreme Spirit has no ‘Pratima’ (idol) or material shape. God cannot be seen directly by anyone. God pervades all beings and all directions. 

Thus,   Idolatry does not find any support from the Vedas.

The religious Gods are man-made.  Every religion has its own idea of God.   He who thinks God is one and the Soul, the Self is another can never be able to understand, assimilate realize the Advaitic truth.   

Sage Sankara says:~ The scriptures dealing with rituals, and rewards are therefore addressed to an ignorant person.  

Sage Sankara:~ (11) As regards the rituals, Sage Sankara says, the person who performs rituals and aspires for rewards will view himself in terms of the caste into which he is born, his age, and the stage of his life, his standing in society, etc. In addition, he is required to perform rituals all through his life. However, the 'Self' has none of those attributes or tags. Hence, the person who superimposes all those attributes on the changeless, eternal Self and identifies Self with the body is confusing one for the other and is, therefore, an ignorant person. The scriptures dealing with rituals, rewards, etc. are therefore addressed to an ignorant person.  -Adhyasa Bhashya 

Sage Sankara:~ (11.1) This ignorance (mistaking the body for Self) brings in its wake a desire for the well-being of the body, aversion for its disease or discomfort, fear of its destruction, and thus a host of miseries(anartha). This anartha is caused by projecting karthvya(“doer” sense) and bhokthavya (object) on the Atman. Sage Sankara calls this adhyasa. The scriptures dealing with rituals, rewards, etc. are, therefore, he says, addressed to an ignorant person. -Adhyasa Bhashya 

Sage  Sankara:~ (11.2) In short, a person who engages in rituals with the notion “I am an agent, doer, thinker”, according to Sage Sankara, is ignorant, as his behavior implies a distinct, separate doer/agent/knower; and an object that is to be done/achieved/known. That duality is avidya, an error that can be removed by vidya. -Adhyasa Bhashya 

Sage Sankara: ~ (12) Sage Sankara affirming his belief in one eternal unchanging reality (Brahman) and the illusion of plurality, drives home the point that Upanishads deal not with rituals but with the knowledge of the Absolute (Brahma vidya) and the Upanishads give us an insight into the essential nature of the Self which is identical with the Absolute, the Brahman. -Adhyasa Bhashya 

Sage Sri Sankara: ~ Atman, the innermost self is verily Brahman (God), being equanimous, quiescent, and by nature absolute Existence, Knowledge, and Bliss. Atman is not the body that is non-existence itself. This is called true Knowledge by the wise. 

That is why Sage Sankara says: ~ VC-63. Without causing the objective universe to vanish and without knowing the truth of the Self, how is one to achieve Liberation by the mere utterance of the word Brahman? — It would result merely in an effort of speech.

65. As a treasure hidden underground requires (for its extraction) competent instruction, excavation, the removal of stones and other such things lying above it, and (finally) grasping, but never comes out by being (merely) called out by name, so the transparent Truth of the Self, which is hidden by Maya and its effects, is to be attained through the instructions of a knower of Brahman, followed by reflection, meditation and so forth, but not through perverted arguments.

The belief system was coherent because they had a transcendent God as a central doctrine, whereas in pursuit of truth God cannot be considered as the center.

First, one should not hold a God as the center of existence without verification. Both the theist and atheist are theories with nothing to do with ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.

Remember:~

Hinduism indulges non-Vedic beliefs such as idolatry, ancestor worship, pilgrimages, priestcraft, offerings made in temples, the caste system, untouchability, and child marriages. All of these lack Vedic sanctions, therefore, Hinduism is not Ancient Vedic religion or Santana Dharma.

Realizing the universe is created out of single stuff and that single stuff is the Soul which is present in the form of consciousness leads to non-dualistic or Advaitic self-awareness. Self-awareness is freedom or Moksha. Moksha is unity in diversity in the midst of duality. 

Changing one religion to another; is like going from one prison to another. If religion does not help the populace to emancipate the Soul from the illusory bondage and realize the truth, which is beyond the form, time, and space, it has no useful purpose to serve. It is time that the populace must become aware of the truth beyond form, time, and space.   The ultimate truth is Brahman or God.

Self-realization is truth realization. And Truth realization is God-realization. There is no room for duality in reality. Wherever there is individuality there is duality.   Truth -realization is the final goal.:~Santthosh Kumaar