Here you go, Heskey and friends. I was in an extremely sheltered community until about 12. Despite constant exposure to the outside world, the view my parents wanted me to have was always reinforced by them, my childhood friends, their parents, and pretty much everyone in my life. So we'd see something they disapproved of (say a lady wearing a top that exposed part of her midriff, someone drinking alcohol, etc) and they'd talk about how bad that was later, how they felt sorry for her sins, etc.
It wasn't till the first year of high school (when I interacted with openly gay folks regularly without the constant reminder from family and other friends) that I realized they were doing nothing wrong. I mean, I'd already started questioning my beliefs earlier than that, but I still parroted the lines, so to speak. I didn't openly leave the church until I graduated high school. Nine years later, I'm an atheist polyamorous man who wouldn't think twice about kissing a dude I found attractive.
We're all heavily influenced by their communities and peer groups. It takes a certain kind of stubbornness to tell your entire community to fuck off, essentially. Worst still, when you change your beliefs, you've got to admit that you were wrong. You've lost. Your identity, say, as a Christian, is under attack. Are you going to compromise that belief that forms a key part of your identity, or are you going to let go of your entire identity? For a lot of people, it's easier to just change their belief a little bit (by saying stuff like 'actually, God loves everyone, so we're fine with homosexuals') rather than throw away the entire identity.
Now imagine you live in a community where not being Christian might hurt your chances at finding a job or getting laid.
