Not everyone is intelligent. The education system is making it worse. It does not focus on teaching children the skills necessary for them to think for themselves. It focuses on what to learn rather than how to learn. The building blocks of critical thinking are in most people. Think of how young children learn to speak. Schools need to build on this natural instinct for learning.
It would take a lot of digging to understand the extent of Christianity during the time of the Ottoman Empire. We do know there was a strong Christian presence prior to the Ottoman Empire. The Maronite Church dates back to the fourth century. The main point of the example was how one dogma can spread and take over a country in a relatively short time.
Thanks for taking the time to write such an in-depth comment. Best wishes to you too.