I didn't call it lazy, I called it brainwashing. Just because pastors do it doesn't make it not brainwashing... From my perspective, making a statement like that is an act of giving over your critical thinking to an authority.

I have a difficult time thinking of a more low effort exercise than sitting there listening to something for the sole purpose of reaffirming your biases and beliefs, whether they are true or not.

This exercise is, without a doubt, giving over a certain level of your own critical thinking to someone else. If you are actively pursuing information of reality, you don't seek repetitive statements that reinforce your current beliefs. Instead you challenge your beliefs. It is only through debate that we approach truth.

That doesn't mean that the act of memorizing something is fruitless, but that is an active exercise which takes brainpower, not a passive reaffirmation of belief (aka brainwashing).