The Salvation Racket

I don't like the way people use "Jesus died for you". They use it to imply that "therefore you owe him your life in return" (which isn't so bad) and the (hideous) hidden corollary "We are his representatives, and we will accept your life from you as His proxies."

It is the same ruse employed by the ruling class when they tell us the governments they own guard our lives against other governments, so we and our children therefore owe our lives to the State. In both cases it's racketeering, pure and simple. Both religion and government are (most but not all of the time) protection rackets.

Pay the U.S. Government mobsters and they will protect you from the Russian Government mobsters. Pay the mobsters of heaven and they will protect you from the mobsters of hell.

Not that the Churches are going to get RICO Acted any time soon, much less the U.S. Government, but the neat thing is as soon as you realize they are all-too-often racketeering, it sets you free because it makes it real easy to discern those who are practicing true religion from those who would die at the sight of God's shoelaces.