moreconfusedthanever,
I was controlled like that for a long time, and am still trying to shake it. Even now I'm not sure what to do, but looking at evidence the case for true religion is not good, and consequently the evidence for the existence of God is also not looking good. I spend my time looking for provable reasons to believe in God but they are nowhere to be found and mostly end up as being based on hearsay. Sadly.
Lets say there is a God (but he is not the christian God) and one day in judgement he asks: "Why did you believe in the christian god?"
Can I answer that its because the bible told me so? Or my pastor/priest told me so? People control us because we believe what we are told by people and their writings, not by God directly.
Apologies to OP, I think this may be going a bit off topic or hopefully its also applicable.