if the price has been paid and we have the right to be in the club then there's no need to believe that Jesus died for our sins and all that, right ?
I think he is just stating the obvious. The club is something that is imagined. Let's say some one told me that I had an uncle by marriage who was very rich and would be leaving me a million dollars sometime in the future.
If I didn't believe this claim then my life would go on as it is. But lets say the person who told me this was a good preacher full of cunning sales techniques and supplied my imagination with all the good things I could buy when this event happened. They get me excited about how much better my life will be and I get caught up in the excitement. Now I'm the heir of a million dollars. The only thing that has changed and it's also the neccessary thing is that I believe that this uncle exists and that I will inherit.
This is the sales pitch of Paul and all those who followed him. If you don't believe in the nightclub then it doesn't exist. All you have to do is believe the story and you can be excited and happy about this great night club you will go to one day. It's a pyramid scheme in a way in that you are encouraged to get others to believe in this nightclub.
It's all about belief. If you believe it you will be very happy. You won't even be very distressed about what happens to your family and friends who don't believe it. You'll do your best but then you put your faith in the greatest thing you can imagine that it will all be just.
Of course there are some other imaginary nightclubs, the competition, and they have good advertising, so you have to debunk their claims and assert that they are all fronts for the underworld and if you join those clubs the mafia will beat you up and torture you.
Now I think religion can be more serious than that but the brand of evangelism that Iano engages in reduces everything to the lowest common denominator of get happy, believe what I'm selling you.
lfen