Teach children about Jesus at a young age,

[Fidel_Castronaut]

Yeah, very true.

I've been in bubbles as well, of various kinds. Living with a semi-delusion. For example, really bad relationships I've been in. Everyone around me was telling me the plain and obvious facts, but I wouldn't listen. I knew best. Until we broke up, and I looked back on how my mind had been clouded with much embarressment.

So I do have a tiny idea what it might be like. But with something so fundamental, I can't really imagine the extreme pressure the mind puts on itself to maintain the status quo of beliefs. One more (possibly subconscious) lie to the self is far easier than considering you might actually have been very wrong, for a very long time.

I think it's probably more due to the sheer length of indoctrination and the level of pressure, combined with, as you say, the consequences (imagined) of not believing.

The sheer number of qualifiers, dogmas and rules either imposed by others or self imposed eventually just takes its toll I guess. The freedom to believe what you want is taken away from you, and even when you begin to break through those restrictions, the consequential aspect of the belief eventually weigh you down.

I'm lucky enough to have never been indoctrinated, so in those terms I can't really empathize.