Syag:
You wrote: ““OOT is very often a spiritual danger zone. IT you are far more likely to remain in a frum environment and bring up your family frum.”
hands down one of the dumbest things you’ve posted all week”
I agree with you. But let’s explain this so that we can continue a discussion with the correct terms.
Spirituality and religion are not the same thing. Perhaps in the ideal world, religion should be spiritual, but the reality is simply not so. Let’s give some examples.
Do we daven all 3 tefilos every day with complete emotional intensity? The flip side – Are we just getting through this routine chore to move on to the rest of our schedule?
Are we doing our jobs, learning, and other activities with a self-interest or to benefit the others around us? In the learning situation, are we approaching Torah with a steadily growing degree of lishmoh?
Are we engaged in satisfying our primary drives, including feeding our egos, for the self-pleasures we get?
I know these questions are pushing an envelope that many may feel belongs in previous generations. Or maybe we delude ourselves and believe we are actually paragons of gadlus (which presses the question about gaavah).
Having drawn a distinction here, the IT experience is bound to involve higher levels of environmental religiosity, as Joseph noted with the easy access to many resources. But does that translate to the ultimate internal experience of having a bond and connection to Hashem? Perhaps this can be achieved OOT, without the masquerade of the external trappings.