AMUSING, INTERESTING, OUTRAGEOUS, or PROFOUND

Thank you the local god I worship is acknowledged to be fake, but also too cool to care about not existing.

Trust me, for many Buddhists in Asia he plays the same role.

Source: Grew up as one.

The picture is not of the Buddha. That’s a picture of Budai, who was a Buddhist monk and has a variety of religious traditions and worship associated with him. Fat Buddha =|= the Buddha.

Some varieties of Buddhism are nontheistic, but not all varieties. There’s the “little wheel” versus the “big wheel.” Some varieties of Buddhism have hundreds of gods.

Edit:

I do see someone that looks like “the Buddha” in the background - that is, Siddhartha Gautama.

But the idea that Buddhism is some rational atheist philosophy is very much a western gloss. Friend did a study abroad in Myanmar - the Buddha is so revered that having tattoos/casual iconography is sacrilegious and dangerous. A very popular form of Buddhism is “Pure Land” Buddhism, where the goal is to not necessarily reach nirvana, but to be good enough to get to chill in a nice place with the gods in your next life. Buddhist traditions tend to recognize their gods as trapped in samsara just as much as we are, but again, lay practice is going to treat various Buddhas as Demi-gods.

Religious belief informs ethical understanding. And ethics aren't an individual concern. They're social code of conduct.

He's there, but he's invisible!

Muhammad was a prophet, not a god figure. Jesus is said to be both.

Edit: I guess, by this logic, the Buddha probably shouldn't be there maybe.