Na balança, ele provavelmente estava apenas manipulando Ar-Pharazôn
Um dos meus favoritos de todos os tempos dos ensaios de Tolkien, "Notes on Motives", discute um pouco os propósitos de Sauron ao estabelecer religiões "falsas"; o mais relevante, eu acho, é esse pouco:
[Sauron's] cunning motive is probably best expressed thus: To wean one of the God-fearing from their allegiance it is best to propound another unseen object of allegiance and another hope of benefits; propound to him a Lord who will sanction what he desires and not forbid it.
History of Middle-earth X Morgoth's Ring Part 5: "Myths Transformed" Chapter VII "Notes on motives in the Silmarillion" (i)
Foi útil para Sauron apresentar Morgoth como o tipo de Deus que deixaria Ar-Pharazôn fazer algo que ele queria fazer de qualquer maneira; ou seja, vingar-se de seus inimigos ideológicos (e lembrar que os fiéis haviam se oposto ideologicamente aos reis por um bom tempo até então, com apenas uma pequena pausa durante o reinado do antecessor de Ar-Pharazôn, Tar-Palantir). / p> O propósito final de Sauron também é revelado neste ensaio: ele quer subjugar e dominar os Númenorianos, e dobrá-los à sua vontade:
Sauron was not a 'sincere' atheist, but he preached atheism, because it weakened resistance to himself (and he had ceased to fear God's action in Arda), as was seen in the case of Ar-Pharazon.
[...]
[T]hough Sauron's whole true motive was the destruction of the Numenoreans, this was a particular matter of revenge upon Ar-Pharazon, for humiliation. Sauron (unlike Morgoth) would have been content for the Numenoreans to exist, as his own subjects, and indeed he used a great many of them that he corrupted to his allegiance.
History of Middle-earth X Morgoth's Ring Part 5: "Myths Transformed" Chapter VII "Notes on motives in the Silmarillion" (i)