Why blind faith?

On my way to class this morning I passed and was questioned by not one but two 'bible thumpers'. It got me thinking about God and religion. To clarify, I believe in God but I don't believe that any one religion has or deserves a monopoly on God. The three major, monotheistic, world religions all worship the same God but in different ways. Their beliefs however, are based on the teachings of various religious leaders and their interpretations of religious texts. I find it thoroughly astounding that these three aforementioned religions have been at war with each other for hundreds of years, at least until I remember who/what is responsible for these wars; greedy/depraved leaders and ignorant followers who would rather blindly accept the 'beliefs' their leaders feed them than study for themselves. I freely admit that I am in no way a religious scholar but I at least have the sense to read not only the Bible but other religious texts such as the Torah and Qur'an before taking someone else's interpretation as truth. Thus far, my beliefs are that fate has a fucked up sense of humor and that if you're a decent person and treat others with respect you'll go to whatever afterlife you believe in or at the very least you'll have lived a good life because those are the basic tenants of the majority of religions worldwide. What are your thoughts?