@HolyDemon
oh, i personally don't refer to wiki actually. just usually for basic sharing with others... but the field is basically not just about similarities or differences amongst religion. it's about methodically, filtering out facts and details on the religions itself. not mainly on the preachers, prophets, holy persons or practitioners but still a part of the studies.
burden of proof. hmmm... that's a difficult thing to tackle... same as a crime committed in secrecy, what about alibi, witness or evidence...? can you prove them to be genuine? the court, judge, accused, lawyers all try to achieve their own desired aim or job, but who can say they are doing the good/bad or even coming closer to the truth?
who can say dinosaurs or alien exist? that's why we have scientific fields and studies.
how can you say all religion are messed up if you've never studied all of them in depth? maybe you've studied one? have YOU studied them in detail then? disregard the human part in their proliferation if you want to be hyper critical.
ok, now we move onto personage or maybe historical figures... again, study them in historical texts, from multiple different sources if you want to be sure it's free from bias. again, it all comes to studying... yes, people often say, history is written by the winners, that's why cross-checking exist.
this not only apply to religion if you want to be petty, every political, noblesse oblige, economic personage make a move/policy/act etc. and is theirs the one you personally agree on? or disagree? how can you know if you never know them in person? again, we come back to researching them... or studying them from valid sources....
it's up to you to actually invest time and energy. BUT if you wan to be specific, than be specific, which person? which religion? where and when they originated? you decide.