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Overblown, Worship-like reaction to Michael Jackson's death???
- Jul 11, 2009 at 10:08 AM
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Reaction to Michael Jackson's Death: Overblown, Worship-Like
The Wired Word for July 12, 2009
In the News
For nearly two weeks, news media in the United States has had one and only one major focus -- the death of entertainer Michael Jackson and details from his life, final hours and the aftermath. But this single-minded news slant has been matched by the worshipful adulation of Jackson fans worldwide.
TIME magazine, commenting on Tuesday's memorial service for Jackson, mentioned the excess in the media, saying "the Staples Center memorial ended up being more tasteful, moving and apt than the week and a half's media circus that led up to it."
The St. Petersburg Times (Florida) headlined one story this week, "Michael Jackson media coverage goes toward bizarre excess," and asked in the article's lead sentence, "What is it about Michael Jackson that can make the media world lose its collective mind?" Further on, it spoke of "an orgy of coverage" planned for the memorial service.
The media cannot be completely blamed, for none of the outlets are immune to the reaction of news consumers. On the day of Jackson's death, CNN, for example, experienced a 900 percent viewership increase. When advertiser-financed news media see that kind of response, it is understandable why they schedule hour-long specials on the event and lead every news program for two weeks with "new details" about the occurrence.
Attendance at the Jackson memorial service (in a venue with 20,000 seats, all filled), the emotional responses of "millions" (according to one press report) at his death and the skyrocketing sales of his albums and videos are also indicators of the adulation directed toward the singer known at the "King of Pop." As of Wednesday, Jackson's albums held all 10 top positions on Billboard's top pop catalog albums chart.
Many observers of the events following Jackson's death have noted that some of the reaction is more than mourning and is more like worship. Pastor Joanna Loucky-Ramsey, who is a member of The Wired Word advisory team, watched the memorial service on TV and observed what she called "the blurring of lines and definitions of theology." And she offered the following four impressions:
1. Calling him the "King of Pop." He was referred to as an idol, buried in a 14K gold casket, and the service opened with Andre Crouch's song "Soon and Very Soon (We are going to see the King)." I must confess to unease as I wondered, are the people thinking, "We are going to see King Michael" or "King Jesus"? If it had not been for the pastor's closing comments, when he said Michael would bow the knee to the King of kings, that ambiguity might not have been clarified.
2. How the pastor handled Christian prayer in a pluralistic venue ("Let those who agree say 'Amen'"). There were other ministers present (Rev. Al Sharpton and two children of Martin Luther King made comments). How they bore witness and what they communicated through their comments.
3. The absence of Scripture in the service.
4. The visuals in the performance of "We Are the World," which used religious symbols from various world religions as if they were all on the same level. What this kind of global epic experience conveys to watchers about Christianity and Christ as but one choice among many equally valid choices. The all-roads-lead-to-heaven deception. How to communicate the uniqueness of Jesus when such a powerful media experience suggests otherwise.
More on this story may be found at these links:
http://www.tampabay.com/features/media/article1016296.ece
http://tunedin.blogs.time.com/2009/07/07/one-last-big-yet-moving-show-for-michael/
http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Music/07/08/michael.jackson.sales/index.html
The Big Questions
Here are some of the questions we will discuss in class:
1. What are the dangers of paying tribute to any human being, no matter how worthy, to the point where the person (or his or her memory) is elevated to superhuman status?
2. Where is the line between paying appropriate and deserving tribute to a deceased person and bestowing praise that should be reserved for the Deity on the person? How do we identify that line?
3. What is it in our human makeup that makes us want to adore celebrities whom we don't even know personally? (Another way to ask the question: What makes People magazine so popular?)
4. Do our media outlets do us a disservice when they base the amount of coverage on what they think many people what to know? What other standard would you prefer they used?
5. Criticizing the amount of praise heaped on someone can make the criticizer sound self-righteous. What spirit and attitudes should be at work in us when we challenge behavior we see as hero worship?
Confronting the News with Scripture
We will look at selected verses from these Scripture texts.
Daniel 6:1-28
Acts 10:17-48
Revelation 2:12-17
John 20:24-29
This article was NOT posted with the intent to slam Michael Jackson's past indiscretions or speculations. I posted this article with the desire to hear what people's thoughts were on the shear coverage of his passing away, in particular Christian's perspective in relation to the questions asked. If you can not be respectful while leaving your comments - THEY WILL BE DELETED. There is no reason whatsoever that we all can't take a few extra moments to attempt to be respectful.
Tags: michael jackson, worship, idols, idolotry
Comments:
HIS Name is JESUS ............ 
THERE IS ONE AND ONLY ONE KING AND THAT IS THE ALMIGHTY GOD!. ELVIS WAS NOT A KING NOR WAS MICHALE JACKSON! I THINK OF THEM WHEN I HEAR THIS SONG.
All work no play may have made Jack a dull boy
But all work no God has left Jack with a lost soul
But he's moving on full steam
He's chasing the American dream
And he's gonna give his family the finer things
Not this time son I've no time to waste
Maybe tomorrow we'll have time to play
And then he slips into his new BMW
And drives farther and farther and farther away
So He works all day and tries to sleep at night
He says things will get better;
Better in time
And he works and he builds with his own two hands
And he pours all he has in a castle made with sand
But the wind and the rain are comin' crashing in
Time will tell just how long his kingdom stands
His kingdom stands
His American Dream is beginning to seem
More and more like a nightmare
With every passing day
"Daddy, can you come to my game?"
"Oh Baby, please don't work late."
Another wasted weekend
And they are slipping away
'Cause he works all day and lies awake at night
He tells them things will get better
It'll just take a little more time
He used to say, "Whoever dies with the most toys wins"
But if he loses his soul, what has he gained in the end
I'll take a shack on the rock
Over a castle in the sand
Now he works all day and cries alone at night
It's not getting any better
Looks like he's running out of time
'Cause he worked and he built with his own two hands
And he poured all he had in a castle made with sand
But the wind and the rain are coming crashing in
Time will tell just how long his kingdom stands
His kingdom stands
TO ADD TO THIS, DID ANYONE SEE A HURST PULLING A U-HAUL?
WHERE DID ALL HIS FAME GET HIM? ACCORDING TO GOD AND HIS WORD THE HOLY BIBLE....MICHALE JACKSON SAVED HIS TREASURES HERE ON EARTH....NOT FOR HEAVEN. MAY GOD BLESS HIS SOUL AND THOSE A LIKE'
VERY GOOD POINT...SO TRUE... THANK YOU
Jul. 11, 2009 at 11:28 AM
Actually, I think that all the hoopla over Jackson's death and memorial is just distraction from what Christians really should be paying attention to. While the world was caught up in the glitz and glamour of MJ's passing, important world leaders were agreeing that we need a "new world political authority". We get so caught up in the affairs of this life that we miss the really important things at times.
1. What are the dangers of paying tribute to any human being, no matter how worthy, to the point where the person (or his or her memory) is elevated to superhuman status? Honestly the biggest problem I have with all this is that regardless of what a person is.. superstar/president/common men and women/military men they are all JUST MEN/WOMEN
2. Where is the line between paying appropriate and deserving tribute to a deceased person and bestowing praise that should be reserved for the Deity on the person? How do we identify that line? PERSONALLY I THINK THE LINE IS WHEN YOU START TO MAKE STATEMENTS AND EVEN TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE TO MODEL OR FOLLOW A PERSON... HONESTLY I THINK PEOPLE WHO PAINT THEIR FACES AND GO TO THE GAME OF THEIR FAVORITE SPORTS TEAM... THEY ARE WORSHIPING AT THE "ALTAR" OF THEIR GOD.. I MEAN SHOOT MOST EVEN DO IT ON THE CORRECT DAY TOO.
3. What is it in our human makeup that makes us want to adore celebrities whom we don't even know personally? FRANKLY WE PUT THEM INTO A "ADORATION" PLACE IN OUR LIFE.. EACH PERSON IS LOOKING FOR SOMETHING TO WORSHIP... FOR SOME IT IS MONEY, OTHERS SEX, OTHERS DRUGS, FOR SOME FOLLOWING THE HARLOTS/STARLETS OF THE DAY AND AGE IS THEIR GOD...
4. Do our media outlets do us a disservice when they base the amount of coverage on what they think many people what to know? What other standard would you prefer they used? FRANKLY I THINK THERE SHOULD BE A RATING SYSTEM. NATIONAL POLITICAL/ IMPORTANT ECONOMIC/NATURAL DISASTERS/BILLS AND LAWS IN GOVERNMENT.. ALL THESE SHOULD AUTOMATICALLY CANCEL COVERAGE OF ANYTHING "ENTERTAINMENT RELATED."
5. Criticizing the amount of praise heaped on someone can make the criticizer sound self-righteous. What spirit and attitudes should be at work in us when we challenge behavior we see as hero worship? I DON'T MIND A PERSON LIKING AND EVEN ENJOYING ANOTHER PERSON'S SKILL AND TALENT.. BUT AT SOME POINT IT GOES FROM REALITY TO SOME FANTASTIC FANTASY WORLD.. THAT HAS NO BASIS IN REALITY.. THAT IS WHERE THE PLUG NEEDS TO BE PULLED.
I am not going to answer each question separately. I had no TV during those 2 weeks so I didn't see everything. When I heard that he had Died my thoughts where OH LORD Help him, He DIID NOT KNOW JESUS> He was a Jehovahs Witness. He didn't know true scripture. He was raised with false beliefs and values. So he showed everyone what he was.
I also was reminded of Elvis's death. As I heard that people where questioning weather or not he was really dead or was it a Hoax?
So If people are still worshipping the King Of Rock, then we have to figure they will be worshipping the king of pop!
Me? I worship the KING OF KINGS and Lord Of LORDS> Glory to God in the highest.
Also in answer to what the person above said about the real news beging overshadowed by this. Of course it was. Satan needed something to cover up his BIG move.
May Jesus Christ be Praised
granmaw56 you took the words right out of my mouth, I had a TV but never watched any of it. However my thoughts were as yours,
"He did not know the Lord as His personal Savior" that is the sad part, (not that he died,) that he died WITHOUT Jesus.
Think about this for a moment- Who has caused at least 90% of the wars on Earth to date? Religion or Michael Jackson? Be honest. Sometimes we start looking down on someone just because of the media-some of you don't believe Michael knew Jesus-why-because the media says so? granmaw56 did you know that the media had recently stated he was supposed to have been Muslim? What you all say is based on media-He was a unique person and went through alot of pressure from religion in general because they saw how much he affected people-Even the Watchtower Society made him feel ashamed of his " Thriller' work and printed a special Awake journal about how he shouldn't have done it so that he even wrote a special statement to say that Thriller wasn't what he believed in (ghosts and all that) . Churches also wanted money from him (tithing and all if he committed to them-except for Jehovah's Witnesses as they don't tithe) I am glad that he saw a bigger picture and tried to do something to help the World. I personally believe he should have tried to help America and go through our legal methods of expanding throughout the world because he lost alot of support doing it on his own as it made him look more political and they sure didn't want an independent political musician. The World didn't appreciate him-and when he started expanding-he got even more problems-all the BS about child molestation. Try not to be so judgemental-leave judgement up to Christ and his heavenly government like the Bible says-it is obnoxious to read that someone doesn't think a person can know Jesus because they are one religion over another. That is not for any human to know or judge-Did anyone believe Christ had a relationship with God? No. They all believed he overstepped Jewish law and disrespected by using Kabbala when he had no right to. So that should tell you what an opinion of a mere person should be considered as.Who only knows the heart? GOD. I think it just scares people to see so many persons affected by the too-young death of a wonderful musician that had a heart for humanity. ////
momanana2008,
I want to tell you how disapointed I am in your answer. This post was about trying to findout where the line for respecting and enjoying an entertainers work... and WORSHIP SUCH AS IS ONLY NEEDFULL FOR THE DIETY YOU WORSHIP...
Instead of making any comment about that... WHICH WAS THE POINT OF THIS JOURNAL.. You went on to muddy the waters by suggesting he was dabbling in multiple religions.. WHICH JUST FURTHER PROVED THAT HE WAS NOT A FOLLOWER OR EVEN A STUDENT OF THE TRUE GOD..
And further.. I am amazed.. there are many times when you and I have discussed christian principles and more and more I see you going in the direction of liberalizm.. SO I WILL SAY THIS ONE THING AND THEN NOT SAY MORE.. IF THERE IS A GOD.. BY DEFINITION.. IF HE IS ALL POWERFUL AND ALL KNOWING, AND THE ALL IN ALL AS WELL AS ALL HOLY.. THEN HIS WAYS ARE RIGHT.. AND HIS DICTATES AND STATUTES ARE CORRECT.. AND ANYONE NOT LIVING BY THEM... ARE WRONG!! I DON'T CARE IF THEIR NAME IS MICHAEL JACKSON, MICHAEL W SMITH, BARRACK OBAMA, BENJAMIN NETTINYAHU... OR DELORES.... IF THEY ARE NOT LIVING ACCORDING TO JESUS AND HIS WORD.. THEY ARE LIVING IN SIN AND NEED TO BE SAVED.
What are the dangers of paying tribute to any human being, no matter how worthy, to the point where the person (or his or her memory) is elevated to superhuman status? I think we need to keep in mind it is the fans that are going overboard with this elevation of anyone famous who dies. MJ, Elvis, etc. These people don't announce, "Now when I die, I expect all my fans to stop their lives for a time and lift me up and cry and gather together to mourn my passing." Fans is connected with the word fanatic. The bigger the star, the bigger the fanaticism of the ones who follow.
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Actually, I think that all the hoopla over Jackson's death and memorial is just distraction from what Christians really should be paying attention to. While the world was caught up in the glitz and glamour of MJ's passing, important world leaders were agreeing that we need a "new world political authority". We get so caught up in the affairs of this life that we miss the really important things at times.