is it smart to find your own religion or adopt someone elses, i dont usually go for the early 3 but instead use the oracle than find COL. but when my state religion is confusianism everyone who is of other religions hates me. i try to spread my religion and convert other civs but it never works, and if i do convert them in like 10-15 turns they just convert to other religions. thnx in advance

I like founding a religion because I can make a shrine. The shrine adds income for each city that has that religon AND helps spread that religion. This city will likely become the Wall Street city, as shrine income is added to that city's income.

is it smart to find your own religion or adopt someone elses

I recommend both. Found your own religion(s) and build shrines and send out missionaries to generate income. But there is very little benefit to synchronizing your state religion with the religon of your shrine. The only benefit I can think of off-hand is that if you build the AP under a religion besides one of your shrine religions, then you will miss out on the hammer bonus (and culture bonus, if you also build the Sistine Chapel) of the shrine. But that's chicken feed compared to the benefits you can glean from the diplomatic relations with same-religion civs.

The only exception I can think of is when you can manage to spread a religion you found so quickly that all but one civ adopts it. But that's a rare opportunity anyway, at least on high difficulty levels. Usually it's very difficult to get AI civs to adopt a religion you founded yourself.

At the higher levels I'd advise against founding a religion - at least the early three. The religion tech path tends to hinder your expansion, and you're unlikely to succeed anyway at higher levels. If you want to found a religion, lightbulb Confucianism or one of the later ones.

Another effective tactic is to let a neighbouring AI found the religion (and maybe build the shrine), and then capture it.

At the higher levels I'd advise against founding a religion - at least the early three. The religion tech path tends to hinder your expansion, and you're unlikely to succeed anyway at higher levels. If you want to found a religion, lightbulb Confucianism or one of the later ones.

Another effective tactic is to let a neighbouring AI found the religion (and maybe build the shrine), and then capture it.

Yes. That is my favorite thing to do, conquer a civ who founded a religion. It's always nice to be set up next to Isabella, since I know she'll found one. Then, I just crush her, take her holy city and her capital, and we're all good.

I recommend both. Found your own religion(s) and build shrines and send out missionaries to generate income. But there is very little benefit to synchronizing your state religion with the religon of your shrine. The only benefit I can think of off-hand is that if you build the AP under a religion besides one of your shrine religions, then you will miss out on the hammer bonus (and culture bonus, if you also build the Sistine Chapel) of the shrine. But that's chicken feed compared to the benefits you can glean from the diplomatic relations with same-religion civs.

Although this is not directly connected to your shrine, running Organized Religion and Theocracy under your own State religion really pays off in peacetime (OR) or wartime (THE). Your shrine helps spread your religion, especially in your own territory. It's a pretty powerful tool to have Organized Religion with all of your cities containing your State's Religion. Just keep tabs on the Religious freaks like Isabella and stay well defended. What I do a lot is convert to one of the early religions founded by someone else until I spread my founded religion to all of my cities and build it's shrine. Once I build the shrine I convert to my own founded religion and I use the gold boost from the shrine to fund a military attack on a rival Civ (usually the one that doesn't have the most popular religion.) You can make later founded religions powerful, especially if your religion controls the AP.

I think it is better to let AI found the religions and let them building the shrine and then war and capture it. It will save you one great prophet, and settled prophet immediately produce 2h/5g per turn, and 3 beakers if you build pyramid, which is huge in acient times. What is more, in higher difficult levels you can't found early religions if you don't beeline mono, but I doubt if you will do so because you will go for BW first 9 out of 10 games.