Maybe it's related to Nick Hornsby's How to be Good. Not very likely, but hey, it's the best I can do without having read it.

What kind of tone did the debate around the first question take? I think the prisoner's dilemma aspect could also be considered as a double bind in a similar sense to how Gregory Bateson used it (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregory_Bateson#Terms_used_by_Bateson), although it seems highly unlikely to me that DFW would have had this idea specifically in mind when writing the story. As a staunchly secular reader I don't necessarily find myself having a problem with the idea that Lane learns to recognize through meditation on God these complex and contradictory emotions he's feeling as True Love, leading him to commit to Sheri and their child, becoming in this way at least momentarily good. The tree shedding cells into the lake is interesting- as a secular reader I might expect this to be the device wherein the essentially illusory nature of a belief in God is revealed, a damning juxtaposition, but that's not how DFW writes their faith, and also this particular secular detail (the fact of material decay) is not presented in a way that either negates or affirms their faith...

Jesse, one commenter (GC) had this to say:

"And whether or not the piece could have been published in another
magazine, I like that it came from the NYer. Perhaps I'm showing too
much of my sociopolitical roots, but I feel like the attitude about
religion in this piece is one that doesn't get enough exposure or
analysis among literary, politically moderate-to-left people like the
NYer readership.

Not being religious myself, I often forget that religious people have
serious doubts; they worry about their eternal souls, they worry about
whether they'll have the courage to live in accordance with their
professed beliefs; they worry about what they really believe, and
whether they believe it because it's right or because it's expedient.
And part of the cultural gulf between religious and non-religious
people is the skeptical disbelief with which they view each other:
under the common stereotypes, non-religious people often view religion
as a superstition full of made-up facts and having little relevance to
contemporary morality, while religious people often view non-religious
folks as over-intellectual, and unnecessarily denying themselves the
spiritual beauty and serenity that belief can allow."

After some serious thought/prayer/meditation and such it seems like DFW is trying to inspire his readers with, as i'm guessing he's intended, the Lane, truth, and the life. I mean this in a, i guess Christian existentialist sort of way. In other words, via dramatic irony, he wants folks to engage in a similar inward spiritual journey as Lane A. Dean Jr. and be fished out of the Lake of Fire to walk henceforth with Him(Jesus Christ/a conscience). If you ask me, after studying much of DFW's work it appears like he's trying to be somewhat of a Christian pastor in his efforts to steer(at least myself) clear of the ways of the fleshy existence with the help of "revelation" in the form of his stories. As a nurse aid working in a hospital i'm doing my best to be his/His hands in my effort to please my good master. Such sentimental goo, but i love it, hehehe.