Lomed, LOL because I’m MO I don’t connect to Hashem? Really? ROFL (anyone else laughing with this sentament?). I don’t even think Joseph would make a statement like that.
I understand your thoughts about non-Jews because I used to think that way too. Then I met a Christian woman who has more faith in her pinky than almost anyone I’ve ever met. She is protestant so doesn’t “need to do works” according to her religion but believes that those who believe in G-d will want to follow in his path. She is an amazing person who does more charitable work, gossips less and is a much finer person than most Jews I know. She is pure in her faith. [Granted, I disagree with her choice of religion, but not all halachic authorities agree on whether Christianity is idolatry or not]
Anyway, moving on. There are many reasons people are motivated to be frum Jews – a major one is belief that Hashem gave us the Torah and commanded us to follow it. That’s a huge one. Then there are the societal aspects – family pressure, familiarity in your environment, not wanting to make waves, the possibility of losing “everything” if you are percieved as not being 100%…but people absolutely want proof or some version of it. Otherwise, why would you care if you ripped some letters on Shabbos? Why would you take your clothing to be checked for shatnez? If its all mumbo-jumbo, why would you do it?
If you think many people don’t go OTD for intellectual reasons, you may not have known many people who go OTD. There is a large contingency who go searching for answers and just can’t find them. They are looking for logical proofs of the Torah. Just search on the blogosphere and you’ll find a few. I personally know a few people who went OTD for intellectual reasons.
Sure there are some kids who go OTD as a rebellion. But most kids understand that going OTD means losing their families, abandoning their comfort zone and travelling into the world by themselves with no support. Its not an easy choice, even if frum Jews pretend it is.
And, according to the OP, the thread is about teens going OTD so I’m not sure what you are referencing.