Michael Jackson: The Biblical Man in the Mirror

Amid the media hysteria around the death of the King of Pop, one aspect of his life that will probably be overlooked in retrospectives is his religious formation. Until 1987, Jackson was a practising Jehovah's Witness, which would have meant that the Bible was central to his outlook on life.

His career brought him into conflict with both the local elders in his congregation and even the movement's international HQ. He was criticised by fellow Witnesses in 1984 for glorifying demonism during the video of Thriller (Jehovah's Witnesses believe that ghosts are really demons, not dead people). In response, he was quoted in one of the organisation's periodicals, Awake!, as saying: "I realise now it was not a good idea. I'll never do a video like that again."

In an interview with Ebony magazine later that year, he stated his belief in the Bible, his desire to adhere to it and his frequent prayer. And as late as 2001, he was referring to the Bible as an authority for his interest in childlike humility.

Declarations of faith in the Bible may not have put a stop to his outlandish behaviour, but his 1988 release Man in the Mirror was firmly based on the biblical passage of James 1:22-25. The song is about changing yourself before you try to change the world. Given Jackson's troubled past, it's fair to say that he saw himself as the Man in the Mirror - i.e. someone who knew his Bible, but who sometimes forgot to put it into practice.

Comments

[James Jones]

I find it interesting that 99.9% of reporters and commentators state or imply that Michael Jackson's connection with the WatchTower Cult ended when he was disfellowshipped in the 1980s.

Katherine and Rebbie's family are all active JWs. Anyone who knows anything about JWs knows how this would play on MJ, who was at onetime an extremely devout JW.

In fact, circa 2004-5, a southern California newspaper published photos and an article showing MJ and his children attending their local Kingdom Hall. Does anyone really believe that someone with MJ's ego would not only attend a "meetings" at his Kingdom Hall, but also take his children with him, if he were being shunned as disfellowshipped persons are at a JW Kingdom Hall. I suspect that MJ had been "reinstated" as an active JW sometime prior to 2004. Let's see some reporter dig into that one. Don't expect the WatchTower Society or local JWs admit such without presentation of overwhelming evidence given present citcumstances.

[David Buckna]

Quiz: The Pop Gospel According to Michael Jackson
by David Buckna
http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/2009/s09070135.htm