Author Peggy Holloway

The Original Sin

 

When I say I am not a Christian, I see shock on the faces of most people. Their reaction is to start preaching to me. Some of them are very pushy. They attempt to manipulate me by using fear and paranoia. Hey, it works in religion, politics, and advertising. It should work with me, right? NO!!

Then they start asking me questions: Well, do you believe in God? My answer: Yes, I just don’t believe in the same God you do. The next question: Do you pray? Answer: No, I listen.

For years I missed the whole point of the story of Adam and Eve. Think about this. God told them they could eat anything in the Garden of Eden, except the fruit from the tree of knowledge. It was a test, but not what we have been led to believe by organized religion. It’s not about disobeying God. It’s about laziness. Yes, the original sin was, laziness. God gave us a brain and wants us to use it.

I meet very few people who think for themselves. It’s so much easier to quote someone else who is the “authority.” I warn about this in my book, The Answers are within, when I discuss how a Hitler could happen. It’s how Jonestown happened, it is how Waco Texas happened, it is how Charles Manson happened, and finally it is how Trump has happened. I think, for some people, he represents the ultimate authority. It is simply a case of manipulation through fear and paranoia.

Searching for truth takes work. It takes patience, it takes being comfortable with being alone to listen to your inner voice, God. It’s easier to follow people who you believe have answers for you. This is how the televangelist are making so much money. It is the fast and easiest method of manipulating that exist.

When Jimmy Carter ran for president, a minister in Alabama told his congregation that if Jimmy Carter was elected, Communism would take over our nation within six months. He said that God had told him that. We all know that Jimmy Carter won the election, and communism didn’t take over. But this minister still had a big following.

A few years later, Oral Roberts said that God told him if he didn’t raise two million dollars, then God would take him home. The money poured in from folks who believed they were doing the right thing.

I find it hard to believe that God shows favorites. I think some people need to feel special, so they claim that God speaks to them. That God has singled them out.

What amazes me the most is people who follow leaders who are caught in the act of committing crimes, or immoral acts. Jim Baker sole time shares he didn’t have. He served time in prison. He still has a big following. Before that,he was caught committing adultery, but still had a crowd of followers. His biggest critic was Jimmy Swagger, who was later caught in the same “sin.” He still has a big following. It’s as if some people must have someone to follow.

Hitler said that if you repeat a lie enough times, you will be believed. Thousands of people followed him, believing he was the only person that could save their country and make it great again. Many refused to believe he was evil. Many kept following him, even after they learned what he was capable of. He came across as being so sure of himself. He sold fear and paranoia.

It is so much easier to follow the crowd, and especially if the leader convinces his followers that he is chosen by God. I don’t think that’s the way a loving God works at all. God is not in a book, God is not in a building, especially a big coliseum. That’s brainwashing. That’s NOT thinking for oneself.

Don’t drink the Kool aid! It will kill your soul.