Its a protestantic thing. If you have sinned, as in you couldnt keep your behaviour under controll- you must suffer and punish for your sin and repent.

Its the same thing that creeps into every drug discussion. Its one of those caddisfly larva conglomerates, where people glue lots of pseudo science onto theire "feel-good" opinions instead of really trying to solve the issue with realistic solutions.

You could sell the realistic solution to these individuals by telling how much the "sinners" suffer after the operation and how heartily they regret taking the left hand path.