People and society in the UK are trained from birth to respect religion even if you don't believe in it, trust the clergy, they are good people, those kiddlie fiddling priests and sadistic nuns are not not "real" Christians, so don't judge the church by them, people have a"right" to their religion, and on and on, in Sunday School, school daily assemblies, Christmas Carole services, day trips to cathedrals and of course Bishops sitting in the house of Lords, which technically make the UK a partial Theocracy.
It is hard to break that conditioning even when you break away from religion, and hard not to think that even when the barrel is full of stinking bad apples, that they are just a few and the whole crop should not be judged by them.
It took me a long time after becoming atheist to become anti-theist and begin to despise those who still tacitly support the corrupt institutions of religion and are happy to rely on them for their "Daily Bread"