Check out Plato's cave.
These people are told from an early age what to believe and when you lead them out of the cave (ei enlightenment with atheism) they would rather go back into the "cave" of religion and believe a simple lie.
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Uh, no. It is a delusion of Western civilization that sees "Reason" as our greatest human capacity, and everything that is not "rational" as "irrational" and a product of ignorance. The reason why people are still SPIRITUAL, is simple. Much of what makes us human and HEALTHY is NON-rational. The truly healthy and balanced person is both WISE---that is, sees things as they truly are---and he is also COMPASSIONATE. That is he cares for other people and all living things. Because he understands that allt hings are connected. "Religion" is the only institution in our culture that teaches this non-rational part of what we need to be healthy. Religion without Reason is blind. Reason without Religion is heartless.