Religion, Sex, and Politics

Yesterday, June 26, came the word that Michael Jackson - who was born exactly three months before me in 1958 - had died. The widespread success of Michael Jackson and the Jackson Five was one of those signs that the deep racial divide in our country was beginning to erode. Little Michael was cute, talented, and (seemingly) a wholesome influence. In the psychedelic, drugged-out 1960s, Led Zeppelin, Frank Zappa, and the Rolling Stones = dangerous. Michael Jackson = safe.

So what happened to Michael Jackson that led to the strange behavior, the multiple distorting plastic surgeries, the rumors about child molestation accompanied by legal circuses and huge out-of-court settlements and late night comedian jokes, the dangling of his infant child over a hotel balcony, and so many other bizarre statements and actions? How did Michael Jackson end up as a freakish, distorted caricature of himself? We see so many "child superstars" crash and burn under the weight of their own fame. Did the fact that Michael Jackson missed his own childhood somehow create a hunger for contact with other children that his Neverland Ranch sleepovers were designed to satisfy?

And what is wrong in a parent's heart and mind that they would leave their child in the unsupervised care of someone who is clearly emotionally very messed up and surrounded by rumors, charges of molestation, and previous settlements? Are some even willing to sacrifice our children on the altar of pop-idol worship? And, if so, how different are they (we) from those societies that physically sacrificed their children to the "gods" (sparing them from a lifetime of emotional problems that result when we "merely" sacrifice them psychologically)?

We'll be hearing people "unpack" the Michael Jackson story for a long time to come. But there are some more helpful questions we should be asking ourselves:

• Why does our society let fame and fortune compensate for deep emotional illness?
• What does it do to our children when we rob them of their childhood?
• As academic expectations and sports stardom get pushed younger and younger, is this just another way of robbing children of their childhood?
• Are there altars of personal gratification on which we, if not careful, might sacrifice our own children?

It's a lot to think about, and the hearts of our children are in the balance.