What is the point of studying religions and philosophies?
Perhaps this story will help to answer this question.
“There were once two pigs. They had lived all their life in a pigsty with tall brick walls, walls too high to see over. They lived a contented existence, lying on their backs in the mud, sunbathing, watching a little television and so on. Then one day a bolt of lightening struck the side of the pigsty. The first pig ignored the gaping hole that opened up a path to the outside world. Why should he bother to go outside? Life inside was comfortable and safe. The second pig was a little more restless. Picking up courage he left the pigsty and began to explore. As he travelled he encountered many things; some delighted him, other confused him; some made him frightened, others made him laugh. His fascination and excitement soon gave way to a thirst to find some kind of meaning in all he was experiencing. He had many questions that needed answering. Then one day he encountered, sitting on a fence, a wise old owl. “Can you tell me how to make sense of the world?”, he asked. The owl was silent for a while, then finally looked up and replied, “There is only one thing I can say to you: you must either stay here remain a discontented philosopher, or return to your home and be a contented pig”.
Taken from Andrew Wright, “The Effective Teaching of RE”.