Michael Jackson Hysteria
It was at once astonishing and discouraging to observe how so many self-styled American "Christians" reacted to the "not guilty" verdict in pop star Michael Jackson's trial in early 2005.
Apparently accused of multiple counts of child molestation, Jackson was acquited by the jury of all counts. When the news reached the place where I was on June 13th, there were shreiks of incredulous derision for the jurors. These self-appointed "Christian" erstaz jurors--some 1,000 miles away from (and only superficially familiar with) the actual court proceedings--apparently "knew" Mr. Jackson was guilty, contrary to the jury's findings.
My quiet suggestion that none of us had heard all the testimony or saw all the evidence presented throughout the trial was met with the pregnant silence and sideways glances indicative of a rained-on bigotfest. The very idea that their prejudiced disparaging might be driven more by the folly of prejudiced ignorance than reason and truth was something they simply refused to even consider.
I'm no Michael Jackson fan, mind you. I've been aware of the guy, but never bought a single recording of his music. In my opinion, he's a bit weird for any number of reasons. But neither my--nor anyone else's--subjective estimation renders him ipso facto guilty of child-molesting.
Justice in the U.S. strives to remain based on the presumption of innocence, not the presumption of guilt. The scenario described above illustrates a disturbing popular trend in the opposite direction.
Likewise, the biblical Christian principles of giving the benefit of the doubt (I Corinthians 13:7), loving one's neighbor as one loves one's self (Matthew 19:19), and treating others the way we would like to be treated (Luke 6:31), suggest that consciencous Christians would refrain from fanning the flames of fact-free feeding frenzies on overpopularized figures. But no (apparently).
I don't intend to ever grow tired of saying it: Truth Matters. And their failure to develop and apply objective critical analysis skills renders the bigoted hostility of many Americans--"Christians" included--no less credible than the arbitrary (and ultimately very deadly) verdicts of the Inquistion.
Whenever the truth takes a backseat to uninformed personal opinion--even if it is "popular" or even "majority" opinion--authentic liberty and justice are at risk of being on different bus altogether.
Apparently accused of multiple counts of child molestation, Jackson was acquited by the jury of all counts. When the news reached the place where I was on June 13th, there were shreiks of incredulous derision for the jurors. These self-appointed "Christian" erstaz jurors--some 1,000 miles away from (and only superficially familiar with) the actual court proceedings--apparently "knew" Mr. Jackson was guilty, contrary to the jury's findings.
My quiet suggestion that none of us had heard all the testimony or saw all the evidence presented throughout the trial was met with the pregnant silence and sideways glances indicative of a rained-on bigotfest. The very idea that their prejudiced disparaging might be driven more by the folly of prejudiced ignorance than reason and truth was something they simply refused to even consider.
I'm no Michael Jackson fan, mind you. I've been aware of the guy, but never bought a single recording of his music. In my opinion, he's a bit weird for any number of reasons. But neither my--nor anyone else's--subjective estimation renders him ipso facto guilty of child-molesting.
Justice in the U.S. strives to remain based on the presumption of innocence, not the presumption of guilt. The scenario described above illustrates a disturbing popular trend in the opposite direction.
Likewise, the biblical Christian principles of giving the benefit of the doubt (I Corinthians 13:7), loving one's neighbor as one loves one's self (Matthew 19:19), and treating others the way we would like to be treated (Luke 6:31), suggest that consciencous Christians would refrain from fanning the flames of fact-free feeding frenzies on overpopularized figures. But no (apparently).
I don't intend to ever grow tired of saying it: Truth Matters. And their failure to develop and apply objective critical analysis skills renders the bigoted hostility of many Americans--"Christians" included--no less credible than the arbitrary (and ultimately very deadly) verdicts of the Inquistion.
Whenever the truth takes a backseat to uninformed personal opinion--even if it is "popular" or even "majority" opinion--authentic liberty and justice are at risk of being on different bus altogether.
posted by Mudrostovich | 8:54 PM
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