The essential premise of christianity is that -- from the time you're born -- burning to death is too good for you.

A just and loving god who would never overreact has already decided that humans deserve to suffer infinitely for finite transgressions (of a seemingly arbitrary nature) because we just suck that much.

BUT...we've got a get out of hell free card so that if we assert the right notions about god and his history with us, we don't have to suffer although we have to remember that we still deserve to!!!!

Indeed, we are supposed to tell god what worthless pieces of shit we are and beg him, on a regular basis, to forgive our worthless selves.

It is the single most vile piece of mental illness ever to arise from the human mind.