I’ve never understood this belief because I always thought it seemed a bit cruel and unusual that a god would make someone suffer greatly, then punish that person to eternal suffering because they were suffering too much before.

When I Google this question, I get mostly Christian-related answers, but my family is Buddhist (specifically Vietnamese Buddhism) and they also have this belief.

I saw this answer from r/atheism that suggests that it’s money-related or that it would just plain look bad to not have this policy in your religion. However the thread mentions that this policy isn’t mentioned in the Bible so it must have been invented at some point and I’m wondering when and how.