I'll grant that the way a lot of people tend to incorporate Buddhism in their lives can be quite irrational. When someone hits you (not you, personally, but using it for linguistic convenience) and you say "I must be paying for bad karma from a past life" that is rather irrational and overlooks the fact that you might have just insulted that person. This points to a difference I see between the Buddhism as it is written (from what I've seen written), and the Buddhism as some people practice it.

My apologies to you for not picking up on that intention of the phrase "in practice". I felt you meant that Buddhism the religion, when practiced in a more 'strict' manner, is just as irrational as many other faiths. This is what I was responding to. I see we were talking about two different things, and there isn't much debate between us, but you had a few direct questions so I'll address them. :)

Now then, to address your other points (please forgive the lack of Reddit quoting, I don't know how to do that). First, there is significant question if Siddhartha was really a prince, but where he came from is at best a minor point so we dismiss any possible historical inaccuracy as irrelevant. It makes a good fable and a fun story, so we use it as such. Similarly, there has been uncertainty raised around if the Buddha himself ever actually taught the Four Noble Truths. Again we accept that this story may be inaccurate, but the teachings are consistent and work well so we keep them.

You say it is not rational to keep something without verification. I agree, as do the monks and teachers I have heard talks by and read the writings of. And I try to describe this in the preceding paragraph. We allow there might be inaccuracies in the Tipitaka from an historical perspective, but we keep them anyway because what we care about are the basic teachings which we have verified to be accurate.

Another example, since you asked for some. I have also personally done verification of the rules of attachment and how it works in one's life. I have lived (as strictly as I could -- I have bills to pay and a job to keep) according to the 8 precepts for a short time (few months) in an attempt to remove some clinging from my life and I can say that there is something to that view of human experience. Again, I was not blindly accepting any teaching, but I saw that the teachings were supposed to be tested and so I did test them. Hypothesis led to testing led to confirmation. And I am not alone in this approach.

Perhaps my experience with Theravada Buddhism is specific to the one sect the monks trace their lineage through, but every teaching is given with a "try it yourself and see if it works for you" attitude. Rationally engaging the teaching yourself, with a critical mind, is welcomed.

I have spoken with other people who say they are Theravadan (SP?), but when they describe their practices it seems quite foreign to me and rather irrational. Like mindlessly going to temple and reciting the sounds you are told to repeat for prayer, not knowing the translation of them. The Theravada I have learned is nothing like that. I don't know what your mother's tradition was like, but there are many divergent sects even within the major schools. All are valid, certainly, as there are as many paths to Enlightenment as there are beings. But there can be quite a few differences between those paths.

I'll not try to defend the example given (and referenced by you) as being rational, as I don't think praying to a dead person is. However, you asked for some rational examples and I hope I have given some.

Oh, and I should note I am in no way attempting to claim enlightenment or even having attained the smallest steps along the path. I am just beginning in my practice, only formally taking meditation classes and reading the Tipitaka (translated, as I have yet to learn Pali -- it's on my to-do list) for about a year and a half to two years now. I can only speak from my experience, and I admit a lot of my understanding may be incorrect due to its limited scope and immature nature.