Hard Polytheism, Soft Polytheism, and Everything In Between

[beachglass]

And just *how* does teaching children religion  which advocates that one just take it on someone else's say so that there are/is invisible beings who will effect their lives (but will never be open to examination and questioning or proof of any kind) teach them how to tell when someone is not telling the truth? Or help them to think critically in absence of any facts...at all?
I would like to see the references on that as I find it an interesting concept that those brought up on faith in the invisible and unknowable are less easy to gull than those brought up to examine what they can actually see and know?

I've been away for a bit, so I'm coming to this late, but just wanted to offer a thought here. It's not exactly about 'thinking critically,' and admittedly is not a research reference, but just some food for thought.

During my college orientation, we had a workshop on religion and the different goings-on on campus, and the facilitator noted that she found that students with little exposure to religion were more vulnerable to cult recruitment, because they didn't have an existing framework to process a ritual experience.

This might not be relevant to a student with no inclination towards religion, but for the student who is spiritually seeking without the experience of religion in childhood, potentially problematic. This student may be more likely to attach themselves to the first group that was able to evoke the right sort of feeling, without thinking through whether the group was healthy etc, because they didn't have any other experiences to compare to.

[Sefiru]

This might not be relevant to a student with no inclination towards religion, but for the student who is spiritually seeking without the experience of religion in childhood, potentially problematic. This student may be more likely to attach themselves to the first group that was able to evoke the right sort of feeling, without thinking through whether the group was healthy etc, because they didn't have any other experiences to compare to.

I am suddenly seeing parallels between this and my experiences with martial arts. The "right sort of feeling" in this case being a very formal structure; I likes me some protocol. Underneath it turned out to be some very nasty interpersonal dynamics.