I mean, I can't believe we're even having a serious discussion on this crap.
Mainly for people, as you said, were brainwashed as children.
This is a place they can talk about what led them away from said brainwashing.
The whole point of most (or all?) religions is to indoctrinate or brainwash children as young as possible, and keep it going, so money can be milked out of them for as long as possible. If you're taught from birth that there is an omnipotent, omnipresent being somewhere "up there," watching and judging your every move, and you're young enough to believe it, then walking away or even questioning it is the hardest thing a person can do. I count "deconverteds" (from religion altogether) to be among the bravest people I know (myself included) - some religions more than others because of the threat of physical violence. Technically, the bible dictates that my friends and family not only shun me because I don't believe, but it also says they should kill me. Luckily, they aren't as fundamental as they think they are. They might shun me (not everyone knows - those that do are fine with it), but they won't kill me.
I can only speak from the perspective of an Evangelical/Fundy Baptist background. They start you out very young, as early as 18 months or so, with bible story books, full of the most popular stories that have been sanitized - as best as they can - you don't really see or hear the real bible for some time. Other books full of morality tales are popular; my dentist's office had a stack of them (they're given out for free a lot of the time). I still remember one story about a mother who left her sleeping baby in the house to run to the store for milk (although the illustrations made her look like a painted whore) and while she was gone, the cat or something knocked over the lamp (these were old stories) and the house burned down with the baby inside. (I would have been 4-6 years old when I read that.)
Simultaneously, all authority (parents, pastors, Sunday school teachers, pretty much every adult in the place) is set on breaking your will. Obedience is the goal; independent thought is frowned upon. I've seen it in action even recently: kids being taught to say "yes, mommy" and obey without question. I even knew a family that spanked their infant because she cried when she wasn't hungry, sick or wet/poopy (this was probably in the late 70s, early 80s - there is a shitton more of those freaks following the Pearls). Little wonder that there is so much sexual abuse in churches. They fucking raise the kids to lay down/bend over and take it.
By the time you're reading the real bible, you are mostly ready to believe whatever other people say it says and most believers don't read the nuances. Hell, I can honestly say that I read the whole thing cover-to-cover, but I have to have been only half paying attention because the story of Japeth's daughter never clicked. Or Job - offering his daughters to the angry mob to save the angelic visitors - being such a virtuous man.
The teaching is full of contradiction - god cast Adam and Eve out of Eden because they listened to a talking snake and became self-aware, destroying all human life on earth (except for one family), Job, Japeth's daughter - such an evil bastard, really, then suddenly, you turn the page and it's the new testament and the same vengeful guy is loving and caring and wonderful. Jesus was the ultimate PR spin. A lot of shit is forgiven/forgotten in the bible because of jesus. He loves the little children, you know.
They never got me entirely, which is why I think I was able to walk away, even if it took a long time. I was indoctrinated, but not 100% because my dad wasn't especially religious. Of course, he let me be trucked to church from the age of 2 or earlier, but was okay with questions and even encouraged me to consider breaking the rules if the rules were stupid (as long as I understood that I might still get in trouble with those in authority if I got caught). The fact that my parents weren't united in my religious upbringing saved me, eventually.
I know people that have this tiny worm of doubt, but they keep burying it. They're all "la la la, I don't want to hear it," (literally, except maybe for the la la la part, I've heard those exact words) because they can't risk doubting their faith. Odd, since if it's true, it should be able to withstand a little investigation. To them, it's far scarier to risk separation from their social group (which church is when you get down to it) and of course eternity in hell (if it exists) than look closely at the evidence. In a lot of ways, I don't blame them. It is fucking scary. What helped me
a lot is that my social group (my church) turned its back on me first. So I got some distance and the threat of losing it couldn't be effective. That was an additional chink that led me to serious questions.