[vinceguidry]

The intrinsic value of money is that it prevents you from having to barter. Religion works the same way, providing a shared culture that allows people to relax with the understanding that there's an implicit contract. The alternative to money is barter, the alternative to faith is never being able to trust someone.

Undermining faith in the system through heresy or counterfeit is considered to be much worse than individual acts of violence, and so it tends to be punished more harshly. The real value of money / faith is in the shared belief. Not that weird or difficult to understand when you think hard enough about it.

In other words, while individuals hold money and beliefs, faith systems like money are themselves social goods, held by the entire society.