My grandmother was a fanatical roman catholic and she swore that all the stories about priests diddling little kids were a conspiracy by the rest of the world to discredit Catholicism.

[–] Telorand@reddthat.com 10 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I'll add that there's an element of denial and fear at losing community. For most ex-Christians I know, losing that familiar community is the last thing to go during their deconstruction. They might not believe in anything that's taught anymore, but leaving behind that community means isolation for a while and having to build new friendships and support systems.

So zealotry is definitely a component, but don't discount fear of being an outcast, either.

[–] CarbonatedPastaSauce@lemmy.world 3 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Absolutely true, but in my grandmother's case she was just a fanatic. She didn't socialize with anyone from the church anyway.

[–] Telorand@reddthat.com 3 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Lol, fair. Weird that she kept going, then.

[–] CarbonatedPastaSauce@lemmy.world 4 points 4 months ago

Some people are just incapable of escaping the brainwashing I guess.