They told him to pray to God and to attend church, and, if his faith proved strong enough, God would heal him. This example allegorizes the fallibility of the professed infallible fundamentalist beliefs and how vulnerabilities are exploited in some of its adherents. The belief dynamics of the fundamentalists depend upon vulnerabilities in adherents for propagation of the unhealthy ideology. In his book, The True Believer , Eric Hoffer discusses mass movements and how they achieve success. Here as elsewhere, the technique of a mass movement aims to infect people with a malady and then offer the movement as a cure.
Children are especially vulnerable.
From the cradle, fundamentalist parents condition their children into belief. So, if the virus says, 'If you don't believe in this you will go to hell when you die,' that's a pretty potent threat, especially to a child. In the scenario painted by Dawkins, the fundamentalist beliefs that foster self-esteem deficits begin and are cemented in childhood. Fundamental Christianity with its defilement of self-image, unwavering demand for obedience to authority, and sole reliance on faith diminishes the individual by eating away at the heart of human dignity. It entraps its followers by obliquely instilling in them a sense of powerlessness under the guise of salvation, and it holds them fast to the fold through intimidation of the soul.