If the powers that be, ie, the secular government in cahoots with the religious power structure, can convince the rank and file that they should follow the party line in this life and they'll be rewared in the afterlife, where those in power obvioudly won't have to pay, so much the better for keeping those currently in power holding their easy positions. The ultimate buy now and pay later scheme. Of course, those buying now are too stupid to know they're never going to collect. At any given instant there are considerably more assholes than mouths in the universe.