You've heard the stories of the protection rackets run by the mafia. A couple of tough looking gangsters confront the owner of a small business and say, "Nice little shop you've got here. It would be a shame if anything happened to it." The message is clear: "Pay us protection money or we'll come back and trash the place."
Religion got started in exactly the same way!
When you take a census of the Israelites to count them, each one must pay the LORD a ransom for his life at the time he is counted. Then no plague will come on them when you number them. (Exodus 30:12)
Modern Christians don't even try to make excuses for the criminal nature of the offer: Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers merely verifies that those who do not pay will probably end up dead!
If a man did not feel his need of “ransom,” and gladly pay the small sum at which the ransom was fixed, he would show himself so proud and presumptuous that he might well provoke a Divine “plague,” or punishment.
http://biblehub.com/commentaries/exodus/30-12.htm
But notice how Ellicot attempts to minimize the situation by pointing out that the ransom was a "small sum" and then goes on to blame the victim; suggesting that the victim is "proud and presumptuous" and therefore deserves his fate!
More recently, on April 25th, 2014, at a forum held by an American religious group called The Family Leader, Bob Vander Plaats, preached the same basic message: Join the Christians in their attempt to gain control of the government - or you will be made suffer.
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