Judging the King

Once Michael Jackson’s death was announced, it caused a flood of emotions from fans and critics alike. However, the more and more distant the passing becomes, the more people are willing to attack his character. For my part, I will remember being a pre-teen listening to his music, trying to imitate his moves, and to an extent, wearing the same clothes. There was a time in my life when there was nothing I wanted more than a white sequined glove. To me, Michael was the ultimate in music and popularity. He was untouchable in my eyes. I also admit that I was pretty much out of societal influence when he was first accused of child abuse. I was preparing to leave on a mission to California, and didn’t really pay much attention to what was going on around the world, since I would be “immune” from it for the next two years. For some reason, I don’t really recall much about the second instance of molestation charges against him either. I was getting my MBA at the time, and was probably too engrossed in weekly papers and reading textbooks to notice anything else.

Fast forward to the present; Michael has been memorialized in historic fashion, and hundreds of millions of people are rekindling their love of his music and performing abilities. There are still those who do not believe that he was anything but a pedophile and a child molester. I’m not one of them. As cynical as I can be at times, I have to believe that in the two instances of accusation, one being settled out of court, being acquitted of the other, I have to believe in our justice system. If not, then in what system or set of ideals can I trust? I’m content to let the records state what they may, and let the rest be handled by the one Person who truly knows what happened and who can rightfully judge the matter. The rest of use should ask ourselves the same question that Paul asked the Romans “But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ…So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.” (Romans 14: 10, 12-13)

I can’t imaging how difficult it must have been to be raised the way Michael was, if in fact you can call that, being raised. Who’s to say that I wouldn’t have had similar problems with self image, self esteem, and an overall sense of self consciousness. I deal with my own issues as it is, I can’t imagine living in front of millions of people who dissect my every move. To this, I can say I actually agree with the Reverend Al Sharpton on at least on thing. During Michael’s memorial service, Sharpton, addressing Michael’s children, said "there weren't nothing strange about your daddy, it was strange what your daddy had to deal with but he dealt with it…" There certainly were some strange things he dealt with, but I’m in no position to judge his character. I’ll just continue to jam to his music, teach my children as best as I can how to moonwalk, and hope that one day I’ll get that sequined glove.