That's only an issue if they are wrong about "the next life".

Not to mention, you're mixing *vastly* different belief systems, here. Modern Christian fundamentalists, especially those in America, believe the opposite: that God wants them to be just as happy and prosperous in this life as in the next. It's only poor liberal saps like me who think suffering is a blessing*.

FuMan

* and by "blessing", I mean that in the technical sense of "something you get when you keep the terms of the covenant". Note also that that's only the new covenant under JC; Judaism is blissfully free of elevating suffering to Godlike status.

His "cursory glance" (and yours) apparently encompass a small fraction of religious history. The VAST majority of religions which oppress people groups do so by fear, not by the promise of a blessed next life.

I will make the second point again (which I think is the more important one): we were talking about Christian evangelical fundamentalists in the previous thread, who as a group profess that God wants heaven on earth in this life. That belief, in turn, makes them hate communism, because it threatens capitalism, which is God's Law and His plan for world prosperity (again, their belief system, not mine). So the tangent upon which you have embarked is somewhat irrelevant to that discussion.