You almost lost me with part one when you said "two degrees in religious studies". You came through, though, so Bravo! š
As you have found the exploitive aspect of capitalist mysticism (I call it The Invisible Hand Job), you also have to see the profit-based aspect of "old tyme religion". God was at one time the marketing department for town meetings: people finding common ground because it worked for a lot of co-humaning reasons. Then business got Big (crusades, empires, etc) and instead of selling useful living paradigms, gods became marketing departments for gods(The Ultimate Aristocrat). Monetized modern life has become our value marker to gamble ourselves (and future selves on credit) against the Capitalism house, with spirituality serving drinks and wearing skimpy outfits. Capitalists and politicians are the bouncers protecting the house (re:"The Devil's Chessboard").
They justify it all in one place where they claim the moral high ground for saviorism and blame us for demanding their services; the cash register. That's where the only votes that matter are counted, and we are allowed to believe and manifest anything as long as that's where we get it. Walking away is impossible as long as we try to do it alone, and they sure work hard to show us how alone we can feel and dangle plenty of Rugged Individual reasons to see each other as competition.
