Suppose you are someone who is unafraid because he sees mostly good things...

I recall taking a summer class in Apologetics--scary how many of my classmates couldn't refute the "evidence" put forth. Most of the arguments for Christianity weren't what a 20th-century mind would call logical. It bothered me that the class was learning this stuff which could easily be torn apart by any water-cooler philosopher.

Anyway, "redemption" implies a state transition. How you go about it is up for debate. I don't think it has to assume a hopeless state, but the use of the word in our lexical history implies that the redemption ("buying back") comes from an outside source, e.g. coupons don't redeem themselves.