Why is Buddha almost treated like a God in most Buddhist traditions? While I find some buddhist ideas intriguing - mainly using meditation to find insights in oneself - I'm also quite irritated, why so many traditions are so full of dogma, i.e. things you just have to believe or do.

It's exactly this way of thinking which always bugged me with religions. Buddhism (at least in it's "westernized" form) seemed to be different: Don't believe in anything except the insights you got from your own meditation practice. At least I thought, that this was one of the core teachings of Buddha.

So why is it, that most established traditions treat Buddha almost like a god, which you have to worship or errect statues for?

Or put another way: Would he be happy if he would see what became of his teachings today, especially in regard to the personality cult?

The only answer I could come up with is: People can't let go of gods.

But isn't this foiling the main idea that the historical Gautama was teaching?
Simply I can tell you this. When Buddhism was invented in certain countries, it mixed with their culture and believes. So if you want to filter what Buddha really said, you have to refer The Pali canon. Actually in "Mahaparinibbana Sutta (Maha vagga - Digha Nikaya)" before The Blessed one passed away, when gods and humans are worshiping him and paying their last respect, the Blessed One stated that: 


  "This is not the real way (by offering flowers etc) that you can pay respect for me. I appreciate the disciple who pay his respect by following my teachings (Prathipaththi Pooja)."


However most people have forgotten these words of the Blessed One.