'believe' is the critical word here, because this is right up there with the same dynamics you find in religions. So there is people who literally believe it, those who figuratively believe it, those who believe in "some version" of it and those who don't believe it but don't mind participating because they believe in what the community as a whole stands for.
Christians are taught from the cradle to believe things without any evidence.
All religions set this up to a degree. What is maybe notable here is that some, among them Christianity (some denominations more than others) have more room for half- and non-believers.
More strict religions make it hard to stay for people who become disillusioned with the faith, setting a "believe or leave" standard, but western Christianity is often opportunistic and "flexible" to a point that it encourages people who don't believe to stay, and that's a precedent that comes back to haunt cases like this.
It primes people to feel like they can just give lip-service to stuff they don't believe in, and don't need to practically do something about it. It's great if you're pro-life but someone you care about needs an abortion, or when you're spouting white supremacist shit but are genuinely friends with your black or latino neighbour.
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u/Quantentheorie 3d ago
'believe' is the critical word here, because this is right up there with the same dynamics you find in religions. So there is people who literally believe it, those who figuratively believe it, those who believe in "some version" of it and those who don't believe it but don't mind participating because they believe in what the community as a whole stands for.