We atheists possess “salvation” not because we are released from a sentence, but because we don’t deserve the punishment in the first place. We have committed no “sin.”
Sin is a religious concept, and in some religions, salvation is the deliverance from the “wages of sin”—death, or eternal punishment. Sin has been defined as “missing the mark” of God’s expectations or holiness, or “offending God,” so it follows that since there is no god, there is no sin, therefore no need for salvation. Only those who consider themselves “sinners” need this kind of “salvation.” It is a religious solution to a religious problem.
We atheists might ask: how much respect should we have for a doctor who cuts you with a knife in order to sell you a bandage?
If salvation is the cure, then atheism is the prevention.
