How do religions trap people?

Yesterday I met a woman who appeared to be in her sixties. She asked if I accept her religion. I replied the negative. She began to warn me that I should hurry and accept her religion or I will go to eternal hell.

I asked her if she used a significant amount of intellectual energy confirming her beliefs. She said “oh no, I accepted my religion when I was twelve, that’s the way I was taught”. I replied “well I was taught differently”. You were taught wrong, she said. I did not continue the conversation since I saw no point.

Please help me understand, how could a twelve year old comprehend what opposing religions couldn’t understand for millennium? More so, how does a sixty year old woman think her religion is true based on her understanding as a twelve year old? I am not suggesting her religion is false, I’m just asking how is she so sure? Or, was she psychologically trapped in her religion.

All religions I know set traps to prevent their followers from leaving. What are the traps? How can a person prevent these traps from depriving us of the truth?