Katie H- Traditions and Religion

I have been reading Lewis, C.S. "Myth Became Fact." God in the Dock: Essays on Theology and Ethics in pieces to make it more palatable. I find reading philsophy all in one go becomes overwhelming and leaves my brain spinning with more questions that I started with. The section I read today stuck out to me from a psychologist and sociologist point of view. 

"Why, on his view, do all these educated and enlightened pseudo-Christians insist on expressing their deepest thoughts in terms of an archaic mythology which must hamper and embarrass them at every turn? Why do they refuse to cut the umbilical cord which binds the living and nourishing child to its moribund mother? For, if Corineus is right, it should be a great relief to them to do so. Yet the odd thing is that even those who seem most embarrassed by the sediment of 'barbaric' Christianity in their thought become suddenly obstinate when you ask them to get rid of it altogether. They will strain the cord almost to breaking point, but they refuse to cut it. Sometimes they will take every step except the last one."

the easy answer as to why people are so hesitant to give up traditions (which is what the mythological language and practices are being described as) is because of the familiarity and the positive association people have to them. it is the same reason you have tradition around holidays (Christmas is a big one in my family, but it can be any tradition). for some families, is it the same reason they goto church in the first place. it could be a "well this is how its always been done" mentality, a "this is just how its done" mentality, or a "this way of doing things makes me happy" mentality. the possibility that these overlap in most examples is high. if someone asked you why you decorate your Christmas tree a certain way, you might respond with "well this is the way my mother taught me to do things" which is a tradition. while religion has a far linger history than your Christmas tree, the same principal of repeated symbolic actions stands.