CITIZEN JOURNALISM: Jackson funeral a return to faith?
Family plans private L.A. ceremony
By Lyndia Grant SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES | Friday, August 28, 2009
More than two months after Michael Jackson died of cardiac arrest in his home in Los Angeles, the dichotomy of his personal faith and professional life lives on.
Mr. Jackson was supposed to be buried in Los Angeles on Saturday, which would have been his 51st birthday. Then, last week, the family announced that the service will be held Sept. 3.
Mr. Jackson will be buried where the stars of Hollywood are laid to rest, but his burial is expected to lack hoopla and splendor, which would follow the tenets of his mother's faith.
Katherine Jackson is a Jehovah's Witness, and she reared her nine children, who spent the better parts of their young lives and adulthood in the spotlight, in its Bible-rooted belief system, which shuns certain funeral customs - including wakes, the pouring of libations and making requests of the dead. Witnesses consider such customs unclean, unscriptured and empty deception.
There are an estimated 7.1 million Jehovah's Witness "publishers," or active members, around the world, including more than 1.1 million in the United States. Mrs. Jackson became a Witness in 1965, but her husband, Joseph, never became an adherent.
Several of the Jackson children, including Michael, pulled away from the church after they became adults. Yet as Jermaine Jackson told CNN's Larry King over the July 4th weekend, the family has always wanted separate private and public services for him.
"Well, my family felt that us being raised Jehovah's Witnesses, it was very important to have something private for the family," Jermaine said.
Much of the public image of Michael Jackson - the dancing and looking like a demon in the "Thriller" video, the pelvic thrusting, the lavish lifestyle, the search for fame and glory - is condemned by the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses.
The dichotomy eventually led to Mr. Jackson's disassociation from the Watchtower Society in 1987.
On his own behalf, Mr. Jackson wrote in a December 2000 essay published on beliefnet.com that he learned to cherish the Sabbath and that he continued "pioneering," or missionary work, until his 1991 Dangerous Tour - albeit in disguise.
"I would don my disguise of fat suit, wig, beard, and glasses and head off to live in the land of everyday America," he said.
After church, the wunderkind-turned-uber-superstar said he would rehearse and rehearse to develop "the talents God gave me."
As for church itself, Mr. Jackson wrote, "Church was a treat in its own right. It was again a chance for me to be 'normal.' The church elders treated me the same as they treated everyone else. And they never became annoyed on the days that the back of the church filled with reporters who had discovered my whereabouts. They tried to welcome them in. After all, even reporters are the children of God."
Neither disassociation nor death has completely dissolved his Jehovah's Witness connection.
His three children - Prince Michael I, 12; Paris, 11; and Prince Michael II (aka Blanket), 7 - are in his mother's custody, and they have been seen attending Kingdom Hall meetings.
In his book "Michael Jackson: The Magic and the Madness," J. Randy Taraborrelli writes about Mrs. Jackson's religious convictions - convictions that forbade her to speak with her son about religion after he left the church and tenets that forbade Michael from speaking to sister La Toya, who was "disfellowshipped," or expelled, from the church.
"Katherine Jackson, a strong force in the lives of her children, passed on to them a deep and abiding respect for certain religious convictions," Mr. Taraborrelli writes. "She had been a Baptist and then a Lutheran but turned from both faiths for the same reason: she discovered that the ministers were having extramarital affairs. When Michael was five years old, Katherine became a Jehovah's Witness, converted by a door-to-door worker. She was baptized in 1963 in the swimming pool at Roosevelt High in Gary. From then on, she asked that the rest of the family get dressed in their best clothes every Sunday and walk with her to the Kingdom Hall, their place of worship."
Mr. Jackson received conflicting messages throughout his life. While the marvelous entertainer drew adoration from all corners of the globe, the Jehovah's Witnesses pounded home that the pursuit of fame and fortune was wrong and that modern music - Michael's music - was un-Christian.
The "Thriller" and "Billy Jean" videos became particular thorns with the Witnesses because Michael has a bed scene with a woman in "Billy Jean" and the "Thriller" video contains what easily could be construed as occult overtones. Sources in Mr. Jackson's congregation say he was rebuked for the "Billy Jean" video. In the beginning of the 1984 "Thriller" video, there is this disclaimer: "Due to my strong personal convictions, I wish to stress that this film in no way endorses a belief in the occult. - Michael Jackson."
In 1987, Mr. Jackson, under pressure, disassociated himself from the Watchtower Society. His decision to leave the church puzzled his mother and caused her great despair.
"Katherine wasn't sure she knew her own son any longer. However, there was no discussing the spiritual matter with him - literally," according to "The Magic and the Madness." "As it is strictly prohibited for a Witness to discuss matters of faith with ex-members, even if they are family, Katherine says that she has never asked Michael what happened, and she says that she never intends to ask such questions. 'I was not required to "shun" my son,' she claimed, referring to rumors of that nature. 'But we can't talk about matters of faith any longer, which is a shame.' "
The King of Pop, whose June 25 death has been ruled a homicide, will be buried in a mausoleum fit for a king and laid to rest in Forest Lawn Memorial Parks and Mortuaries among such Hollywood greats as Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, actress Ethel Waters and gospel singer Clara Ward. Mr. Jackson, who played Scarecrow in the Broadway smash hit "The Wiz," will be buried on the same grounds as L. Frank Baum, who wrote "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" - the first totally American fantasy for children.
Lyndia Grant, a religious writer, is chief executive of Lyndia Grant Associates LLC.
