Crypto followers of a stand/philosophy/religion/atheism

What does HDF stand for?

Since when? The RCC used to teach that there was a place called Limbo (for unbaptized infants), the Geocentric version of cosmology and that usury (loaning money at interest) was wrong, among other things. The Mormons decided in the 1970s that Black men could be priests. Then there's Genesis, something that was considered to be literal, but which many religions now claim to be metaphorical. 

Religion doesn't require consistency. It needs people who can selectively accept or reject any teachings so as to feel better. 

I don't know if defending something is a sign of anything other than comprehension of the thing defended.

Only so long as they recognize that their understanding of it is "correct". Beliefs can evolve, and with them so does ones willingness to defend or reject certain claims, or aspects of the belief. Many fundamentalist Christians believe that the bible teaches that the creation days are literal 24 hour days, that the earth is 6 thousand years old, and that there was a global flood that wiped out all life on the planet. However, many Christians now reject all of those claims as scientifically unsupportable and/or biblically inconsistent. It doesn't mean they are no longer "true Christians", it just means they have different interpretations of it, and defend it differently than they may have in the past. In other words, it means they are open minded and willing to question their own beliefs. What you are suggesting is that religion requires people to be close minded, stubborn, unable to engage in critical thinking, and never change their stance about anything.

I'm not sure if praying and worship are the same things. Alot of the prayer cards for the saints say stuff like "ask God for me" or along the lines of that phrase so its almost like asking someone on earth to pray for you or whatever you're asking for just to feel like you were heard. It like saying "please think of me" type of thing. and since they're in heaven with God it seems more meaningful if they somehow heard your prayers I guess. So it's not just God that hears your prayers but also the saints, and even though God can only grant prayers it's still nice to know others can hear you too. The really well known saints represent certain things that people pray for too, so if you're praying about making families stronger, st Jospeh might be a good saint to be addressed in the prayer but still acknowledging God as well. Also reading stories about their lives somehow show they had a strong connection with God, and so praying to them apparently can be believed that they hear it and repeat it to God, and the stronger spirtually someone is the more likely God will answer to them. So if a saint is a repeating your prayer to God directly then it's more likely God will grant the prayer. So the saints are just reappeating the prayer to God and not actually granting it. The more people pray the more likely God hears it. I know when it comes to Mary it's a lot different because it pretty much comes across Catholics worship her too even when they supposedly claim they don't. It's hard to explain that one. But the best way to find Jesus is through Mary's help.

Now I don't believe any of this literally like I used to but I can see a lot of meaning and symbolism to it

When you first posted it, I just thought the op was a not-so-crypto post about Bryce.   A little less sure now.

No Captainbryce, praying & worship are not the same thing. To pray means to "ask of something, from someone."  To give worship means to give sacrifices or offerings. That is what worship is.