It’s one of the oldest cons in the world. Convince people that an intangible really good thing like salvation is dependent on their getting in your good graces and fleece them for all they are worth.

One of my favorite descriptions of the racket comes from the Gospel of Thomas whose portrayal of Jesus had a theology of salvation as a universal birthright, chastising people who would give the shirt off their backs to prophets or messengers that are delivering them what they are inherently due (it also makes fun of fasting or praying as dumb sauce).

In it, there’s a parable about a kid who inherited a farm with a buried treasure, but isn’t aware there’s buried treasure, so the kid sells the farm to someone else who finds the treasure and turns around to lend it out to people at interest.

Portraying the concept of salvation as an inherited treasure which people hand over to others to lend back to them at interest is probably one of the most on point descriptions of organized religion I’ve ever seen.

And it says a lot about humanity that so many are more ready to believe that they are inherently flawed and doomed and it’s only through the good graces of others that they can be entitled to good things, then they are to believe that every life brought into existence would be ethically entitled to salvation if brought into existence by a being of agency which also had the capacity to deliver salvation.

Like, if you’re just making shit up, why not just default to good stuff? Especially when the Bible literally has a story about a litmus test to tell a true parent from a false one that boils down to a false parent caring only any recognition even if the child comes to harm and the true parent caring more about the child’s continuing to live as their full self than ever even being known to it. Pretty weird the surrounding text promotes a divine parent that only cares about recognition even if it means the suffering of their supposed children…