Salvation, atonement, and grifting
If you missed it (you probably did), Right-wing social media was buzzing about Michael Knowles interviewing Nala Ray.
"$9 Million on OnlyFans & God Saved Me" | Michael & Nala Ray pic.twitter.com/kPP2eCm12Y
— The Michael Knowles Show (@MKnowlesShow) April 6, 2024
The Christian Right on Twitter, by-and-large loves this girl and her testimony.
I’m have doubts.
I’m not a Christian.
We Jews do not believe in salvation. That is not a Jewish principle.
We believe in atonement. One must atone for their sins. Part of atonement is making right and reforming previous behavior.
So I watch this interview and this is my take-away.
This girl made $9 million doing hardcore pornography on OnlyFans and builds up a huge follower base.
She finds a man, falls in love, want to get married.
She finds Jesus, prays, and is saved.
She quits OnlyFans.
She transitions to making softcore content of her in scantily clad costumes and athletic clothing and calls it cosplay and fitness influencer content.
She starts making money with Christian influencer content.
She doesn’t give away her $9M from OnlyFans, she doesn’t reject her followers.
She doesn’t do good works, build church, fund missionaries, help Christian hospitals, etc.
She found Jesus and a sports bra and did substantially change her life.
Social media tells me I can’t judge her. Her sin has been washed away.
Didn’t Jesus save Mary Magdalene, who was a prostitute?
Yes, but I don’t remember in my Episcopalian high school days, learning that Mary went back to being a prostitute after becoming a follower of Jesus.
Nala Ray’s transformation looks like a grift to me.
She gave up hardcore for a husband and parlayed making money off incels to making money off Christians.
I remember from the history books when the Medieval Catholic Church would require people seeking forgiveness to fast for 40 days and take a vow of poverty.
At least make her buy a planetary indulgence for $9,000,001.
Make her demonstrate an act of contrition.
Thus just feels like a grift and I don’t understand why more people don’t see it that way.
I’ll admit, I don’t know salvation, but I do know atonement, and nothing I’ve seen her do looks like atonement.