Wren, I would respectfully disagree with your assertion that "ritual" and "religion" are always separable. In Catholicism, which you reference, this is untrue because the ritual is fundamentally sacramental. Communion, for instance, is believed by Catholics to be the receipt of God Himself and a participation in the original Paschal sacrifice.
That said, I agree with the general spirit of your last line, which is that we are free to choose (or not choose) a religion. Right on!
A general aside:
Just thought I'd make a gentle reminder to everyone that interpreting religions' traditions at face value without a deeper understanding of the spiritual underpinnings may be inaccurate or offensive. We, the posters, represent a minority of the traffic on this site, and we should endeavour to be as accurate as possible in representing various religious perspectives.
