I've given up on trying to understand the religious mind. I no longer post stuff on Facebook that might be controversial in religious circles. I've grown to let things go. But that doesn't mean religiosity of people and their beliefs don't bother me.
At a time when there are 3 active hurricanes in the area, there was an earthquake in Mexico today. YouTube comment sections of news videos were filled with prayers and prophecies about the apocalypse. It's the stragest thing. The all-powerful creator has supposedly unleashed his wrath upon his creations residing in a certain region...and the solution to our problems is to pray for...what exactly? I don't know about that. This is where the believers diverge - one believes nature isn't governed by the creator but was simply put in place to autocratically do its thing, the other thinks the creator is an whinny, angry bearded creature, requiring constant attention and praise.
Ganesh Chaturthi just wrapped up here. In the name of religion and culture, people just trashed our beaches with clay, mud, plastic, paint, cloth and fibres. People's prayers may or may not have reached the intended recipient(s) but they will end up being ingested by fish that ends up on my plate. People also don't have a problem effectively bribing (via cash, jewellery) a higher power to give them a better life. Most of these people don't realise the vastness of space and how insignificant their very existence on our tiny spinning ball is, in the context of the history of space and time.
I don't think people attempt to understand the workings of things they believe are under the control of a higher power. If you nudge people and ask them if nature is controlled by god, you'll get all kinds of vague answers (while they answer with a confused look on their faces and you can tell it's the first time they've thought about this). Afterall, if they'd care to figure out how things actually worked, they'd have a lot to lose and a lot more to worry about.
It's probably why people living in poverty having lots of children are so deeply devoted to prayer. With god, you yourself have less to worry about. You can have children without worrying if they'll have access to clean air or drinking water or jobs. These folks also bring up their kids with an emphasis on god and prayer so they basically STFU and be thankful for whatever little they're getting and pray to god for whatever they feel they're missing...instead of realizing the raw deal they've been given by their parents.
While others can pray their worries away, atheists have no choice but to be depressed about the state of things.
There's a lot of data out there that shows how people turn to religion as they grow older. There's also data that suggests people become increasingly right-wing as they grow older. Liberal values and hope in secularism erode from strawman instances of being letdown. As my brain-cells die off and are reborn again, I hope they don't give in.