Well, TheFF and Dan, while what you say is true for those raised in a religious environment, your comments beg the following question: what about those who suddenly become fervent believers?

And the extension of this question, which is an issue that has puzzled me for some time now: if indeed believers are so closed minded and "focused" on their particular set of values(determined by the denomination they belong to), how do you explain for example modern phenomena as the appearance of mormonism (roughly 200 years old) or more recently, the appearance of scientology? In both cases, believers from other denominations have "transfered their credits" to the new religion.