I am going to answer this, even though I am no longer a theist.
When I was a theist, it was because I was brought up to believe in a certain god and religion. I sincerely believed, and I sincerely searched for 'God'. I had every expectation i would become an even stronger believer.
But I also grew up in a family that was quite skeptical. When someone in the family would bring up some sort of woo, my parents, and other members of my extended family, would subject it to the most rigorous skepticism possible. It didn't take me long to figure out they weren't applying the same level of rigor to their own beliefs.
I soon decided that I was going to prove that my beliefs were justified. Of course, it didn't turn out that way.
When I was a theist, it was because I was brought up to believe in a certain god and religion. I sincerely believed, and I sincerely searched for 'God'. I had every expectation i would become an even stronger believer.
But I also grew up in a family that was quite skeptical. When someone in the family would bring up some sort of woo, my parents, and other members of my extended family, would subject it to the most rigorous skepticism possible. It didn't take me long to figure out they weren't applying the same level of rigor to their own beliefs.
I soon decided that I was going to prove that my beliefs were justified. Of course, it didn't turn out that way.
You'd believe if you just opened your heart" is a terrible argument for religion. It's basically saying, "If you bias yourself enough, you can convince yourself that this is true." If religion were true, people wouldn't need faith to believe it -- it would be supported by good evidence.
