I even grew up secular and was never in a church at all.

I had the opposite experience.
Raised in the Roman Catholic and Apostolic Church by the age of 11.

I questioned everything I had been taught. The brainwashing didn't stick.

Priests and Nun's couldn't answer the simplest of questions from a child like me so they resorted to gaslighting me.

Calling me a doubting Thomas and that I must rely on my faith which rapidly evaporated as I saw through the nonsense.

My childish question was for example

If Adam and Eve were the first people where did the rest of us come from?

They had no answer except for their sons were Cane and Able and they also had daughters.

So basically Adam and Eve spawned an incestuous family and a murderer. Not very Christian I would argue.

As for your statement.

God winks at ignorance

I have to let you know "there is no god except that made by man"

There is zero evidence of a divine creator or of Jesus Christ.

Reading scripture is fine as long as you acknowledge that all of it was written mostly by man...even the Koran.(this is how it was spelt when I read it a long time ago. Qu"ran is the modern spelling (2010) in the USA)

All of these books come from a much older text.

I hope you get some solace from your faith. I know it helps some people and I know a few of them.

Personally I do not believe in anything blindly.
That's why I'm on a trust less platform. No faith or trust required.

We have seen where blind belief lead to, far to many times. Hitler, Trump etc.

Edit clarification