Religion can be looked at through the lens of an intervention. Wrongness can only be dealt with by a larger rightness superimposing itself. Salvation is dependent upon attending to what is understood to be the rules of the most powerful.
It might seem that this is a setup for humility – “I’ll do the right thing even though it goes against the most surfaced of my desires.” When there is a greater power – whether higher or lower – one must attend and give obeisance.
It is closer to our experience to say that humanity’s narcissism – writ larger or smaller – ends up shifting its humility into pride. As we get our butt kicked by whatever power is currently in the ascendency, we turn to kick the butt of the closest person or group we can ontologically claim is an unmitigated and eternal wrongness worse than anything we have done.
This shift from being wronged (humility) to wronging (pride) can be seen in everyone but ourselves. Nationally, tribally, the outcome is genocide and colonialism. The same dynamic can be seen in the patriarchal story of a boss metaphorically kicking a male employee who goes home and takes it out on wifey, who passes it on to a kiddo who physically kicks the dog.
One way to deal with this is to remodel religions away from interventions to collaboration and partnership. Within Christianity, this moves away from a Jesus sent to intervene, to save little ol’ me and you and all humanity (forgetting the cosmos). It moves toward a Jesus waking up to partner with, to collaborate with those distracted by being dominated and dominating. Partnership opens a next opportunity or step to be real about the mixture of chaotic deep and ordered intersections within and between all that has been, is, and may yet be. In this way, we shift from blame to joy, form more partial to wholer.