Dear Internet,
It is my hypothesis that one reason people find it so difficult to break away from religion, especially the Abrahamic religions, is that they have an abused-spouse mentality.
Women who are abused by their spouses often will not leave their husbands because they still "love" their husbands, and they believe that their husbands love them. Their husbands usually go through cycles of being verbally and even physically abusive, making the wife feel helpless, worthless, and beaten, and cycles of being extremely nice and generous and 'loving'.
In the bible, there is a repeated theme that we humans need God. It tells us over and over how much better God is, how much stronger and smarter and nicer, and calls us sheep. Sheep are notoriously stupid animals who do indeed need a shepherd; it says in the bible that we are the flock of Jesus and that he is our good shepherd. God tells us how sinful and unworthy we are. He requires us to repent for the thousands of sins we commit every day. He keeps his followers in a constant state of feeling helpless, worthless, and beaten.
And yet he is a good God. He loves everybody. We are his chosen people, the light of the world and whatnot. This is the part of the cycle where the loving husband showers us with gifts and compliments to make up for his constant threats of hellfire and damnation.
What makes it all worse is that these people are being abused by a spouse that doesn't exist.
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