I think the answer is all of the above. I just depends on how you approach the practice. There is some really good stuff there if you strip away all of the rebirth and karma nonsense. I'm a fan of Stephen Batchelor. He spent time as a monk in both the Tibetan and Zen traditions before becoming disenfranchised with all organized forms of the practice. He went on to write a number of books, such as Buddhism without Beliefs and Confessions of an Athiest Buddhist which have been very helpful to me.

It all depends on how you define religion and Buddhism. If religion is a set of beliefs, mainly spiritual type of beliefs, then it is.
If you defined religion to be a belief in a higher power, probably not, unless your definition of Buddhism includes such.

I ran the gamut from Southern Baptist to agnostic to atheist to anti-theist to Buddhist to Vedic sage. What I learned is if you label me then you minimize me. I no longer have any need for supreme beings to give me assurance. The balance of the universe is my security.

It's necessary in this context to offer a warning aout the knee-jerk immediate refusal to acknowledge anything that seems to be a god or deity. Often the being one might call a god or a deity is no more than the personification of a concept. This was a necessity for telling stories to carry the religious ceremonies from northern and western europe to the Indus valley by the aryans. Instead of saying "Jaeed crossed the great river and ate some fruit to quell his hunger" the story-teller would say "Jaeed snuck past the sleeping river and slayed the dragon Ungar - who would still arise the next evening". This is where most of the "gods" of the vedas come from. It was a necessity to embellish stories as memory aids until sanskrit was developed to document the same. Thats not the case in every instance ... but it is for many.

I lived in the Republic of Korea (South Korea) for several years and dabbled in Buddhism with both Koreans and expatriates from some western countries. I did not feel I was worshiping a deity, but learning a way of life. Didn't stick with it, but felt I learned somethings which make my life more pleasant -- as well of those around me.

Buddhism is a religion in the east, but it is not necessarilyy considered one in the west. A lot of this has to do with the western mindset. When practitioners first brought it over to the US decades ago, they had to adapt it so that it could be more accessible.

I consider it a philosophy.

I was under the impression Buddhism was more of a philosophy and did not require a diety

I am an atheist, and I practice Buddhism. I am not very good at it...but I practice every day. Buddism is not a religion as I see it because Buddhists do not worship a god or higher being. I learned a lot about Buddhism on YouTube. Richard Gere has a series of videos about Buddism and if you look it up you will find a generous amount of videos on just about anything you want to know. Here is a good start:

Regardless of what I may think, it is considered a religion by society. If it were mandatory that I have a religion it would be Buddhism or Taoism.

1. nope, not a religion. it's a discipline with no "higher being" except yourself.

2. seek refuge in the triple gem (darma, sanga, and Buddha)