(disclaimer: I'm an atheist American who was raised sort of "Christian by default" but whose immediate family virtually never attended church and never identifi

(disclaimer: I'm an atheist American who was raised sort of "Christian by default" but whose immediate family virtually never attended church and never identified with any particular denomination) I'd guess at some social function of the equalizing narrative of universal/original sin and Jesus being the scapegoat for it. Being highly reductive about it, I can imagine the prosocial lens and the antisocial one. Through the prosocial lens, it says that we must all be humble regardless of our propriety or material accomplishments, because even the greatest and purest of us are not above sin. We must respect the struggle of our fellow fallen man against the unrelenting pull of temptation to commit transgressions, and remind ourselves to demonstrate Christlike mercy when they fail. Through the antisocial lens, it says that you might as well lie/cheat/plunder/exploit/murder and beg for forgiveness if you're caught, because you're considered tainted in either case. In an odd way, the stereotypical evangelical redemption/rebirth narrative arguably values greater sins more than lesser ones: "if the blood of the Lamb can cleanse this sin from me, then your salvation is certain".