Fangz posted:

Because Christianity generally rapidly morphed into a form that had nothing to do with real forgiveness, tying redemption purely with belief in Christ. Doctrine revolved around eternal punishment, with forgiveness something you can purchase for money, or through personal acts of prayer, and so on. Jesus is a thing, but no 'fundamentalist' Christian seeks to act like him, instead holding him as superhumanly good. US culture also is hugely inflicted with the just world fallacy.

Contrast say, Buddhism, where punishment is inherently temporary - your next life might suck but there's no real Bad Ending for most people. Or Shintoism where there is no punishment in the afterlife but the dead have the ability to punish the living to redress injustices. Forgiveness and practical redemption is thus inherently a part of spiritual practices, at least in theory.