What Would Jesus Do?
Those Who Live in Glass Houses, Usually Throw the Largest Stones!
I recently had a chance to hear Congressman Peter King’s comments about Michael Jackson on youtube and quite frankly was deeply disturbed by them. While it is true that the media has bored us to tears with the over the top coverage of his death, referring to him as a low life is beneath contempt. Those who applaud such comments should examine their own hearts, or perhaps their closets. Sitting in judgment on someone is easy, but is that really what Jesus would’ve done? I doubt it. Jackson had personal problems and what he allowed to happen to himself was a tragedy. He was an incredibly talented individual who was doubtless deeply troubled, as anyone who saw the movie about his life would've known had they bothered to watch it.
Jackson grew up with an overbearing father who never praised his sons and often manipulated them to meet his ends. He had no childhood worth a damn and didn’t even have much of a teenage existence. By the time he was 20, just as “Off the Wall” was hitting the charts, the pattern of abuse that defined his entire life had already taken hold of his soul. All you have to do is look at what he did to his face and skin over the next twenty years to realize that he hated who he was and was desperately trying to run from it at all costs. Like most mega stars he found drugs a convenient way out, and he took them right up until the time his body couldn’t take anymore.
All that wealth and he could not buy happiness. He entered this world a child prodigy, and he left it a caricature of himself. His critics, many of them “God-fearing” people, will no doubt feel justified in their condemnation of who he was and what he was alleged to have done – let’s not forget he was NEVER convicted of the charges against him – but none of us, fans or otherwise, could ever have traded places with him, nor would we have wanted to. Imagine living that life; imagine hating yourself so much that you will stop at nothing to destroy your face and live in virtual seclusion.
No, what Michael Jackson needs from us is not our judgment or our snide remarks about pedophilia; if we are in deed the Christians we claim to be, what we should be hoping and praying for is that in death, Jackson somehow found the peace that alluded him most if not all of his life. A peace we would wish on any fellow brother or sister at an alter call. It is no less deserving of a man, who more than most, probably could’ve used it.
Those Who Live in Glass Houses, Usually Throw the Largest Stones!
I recently had a chance to hear Congressman Peter King’s comments about Michael Jackson on youtube and quite frankly was deeply disturbed by them. While it is true that the media has bored us to tears with the over the top coverage of his death, referring to him as a low life is beneath contempt. Those who applaud such comments should examine their own hearts, or perhaps their closets. Sitting in judgment on someone is easy, but is that really what Jesus would’ve done? I doubt it. Jackson had personal problems and what he allowed to happen to himself was a tragedy. He was an incredibly talented individual who was doubtless deeply troubled, as anyone who saw the movie about his life would've known had they bothered to watch it.
Jackson grew up with an overbearing father who never praised his sons and often manipulated them to meet his ends. He had no childhood worth a damn and didn’t even have much of a teenage existence. By the time he was 20, just as “Off the Wall” was hitting the charts, the pattern of abuse that defined his entire life had already taken hold of his soul. All you have to do is look at what he did to his face and skin over the next twenty years to realize that he hated who he was and was desperately trying to run from it at all costs. Like most mega stars he found drugs a convenient way out, and he took them right up until the time his body couldn’t take anymore.
All that wealth and he could not buy happiness. He entered this world a child prodigy, and he left it a caricature of himself. His critics, many of them “God-fearing” people, will no doubt feel justified in their condemnation of who he was and what he was alleged to have done – let’s not forget he was NEVER convicted of the charges against him – but none of us, fans or otherwise, could ever have traded places with him, nor would we have wanted to. Imagine living that life; imagine hating yourself so much that you will stop at nothing to destroy your face and live in virtual seclusion.
No, what Michael Jackson needs from us is not our judgment or our snide remarks about pedophilia; if we are in deed the Christians we claim to be, what we should be hoping and praying for is that in death, Jackson somehow found the peace that alluded him most if not all of his life. A peace we would wish on any fellow brother or sister at an alter call. It is no less deserving of a man, who more than most, probably could’ve used it.
2 comments:
Bravo, Pete. It's true being a superstar, super talented and super rich does not make one's life easier. Jackson was a tortured individual whose personal pain was only magnified and intensified by fame. I often think celebrities deserve our compassion and prayers more than our adoration.
Congressman King's remark was so unprofessional, unworthy of a statesman-- and stupid too (he may have succeeded in rallying the forces of intolerance, an easy and cowardly thing to do, but he also alienated himself from thousands of his constituents who are Jackson fans).
I was never a fan myself. But it is possible to admire talented people without condoning their lifestyle. DaVinci was a sad and sexually broken man, and even arrested for it, but I don't see King picketing the Met with signs saying, "Leonardo is a faggot!"
Keep speaking out, Pete.
It's so refreshing to hear a Christian calling for compassion. This should be our trademark, but it can be so hard to find.
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