Tribal loyalty towards your former religion

[MTL]

The problem is when the dependence upon the ritual surpasses the purpose of being a vehicle,
and instead becomes a crutch....a good example is an old woman saying her Rosary Beads.

Then the hat is wearing you, as it were.

I completely understand.  It was more the vibrancy of the rituals and the assumption of a distinctive identity that caused me to gravitate to my religion, not really concurrence with its philosophy.

Exactly.  Humans like to belong, we are social, we like to feel safe, empowered, like someone has our backs;
and we like for the world to make sense, for justice to be served, we dislike ambiguity when it comes to matters of right and wrong,
and we certainly like the idea of everlasting life.

All these things are benefits that Theists reap, sometimes unconsciously, from attending church.

Sadly we also often like to judge others and control people, and that is one of the downsides of belonging to a church.