It's certainly true those things can happen (and unfortunately have.) But denial of distressing information as a response to cognitive dissonance is hardly restricted to those with a strong religious faith. For example, we see it all the time in politics/political beliefs. So far as raising children goes, I've never seen data to suggest that a mother who "doesn't see" that her boyfriend is abusing her daughter is more apt to be religious. Or a dad who doesn't see the signs his son is using drugs is more apt to be religious. Denial can affect anyone.One thing about many religions, is that people who have faith in what their leaders say, they are more likely to block out anything that creates "cognitive dissonance", things that they don't want to acknowledge are wrong.
An example of this, is the denial of the Duggars, that their son Josh was molesting his sisters. They didn't want to see it, or acknowledge it, so, therefore, it didn't exist. It is a complicated concept to understand.
I see the same thing happened here, the mother was so enamored with Jodi Hildebrand, that she did everything she was told, blocking out the fact that she was perpetratoring abuse on her own children.
I saw this happen, and it is crazy. A child was being beaten, by the "Priesthood Holder", the women in the house ignored it, like they were robotic "Stepford Wives". And the abusive activity was so normalized in this house, that they were not even hiding it from me. It was absolutely horrifying to see and hear it. And even scarier, to wrap my head around the fact that these "normal' people
MOO