Hindsight

It is sad to me to read about Michael Jackson, now post-mortem.

He was a celebrity, both famous and infamous, depending on who you were speaking to, but I think the way America, as a whole, reacts to him really says something about who WE are. There is a quote I stumbled across that says 'When you judge another, you do not define them, you define yourself." -Wayne Dyer. I think that Michael Jackson is a prime example of this. He was accused and acquitted of child molestation. Instead of taking the word of the people who are paid to ensure the justice system works correctly, instead of thinking about it and understanding that no amount of fame would allow that many people to turn a blind eye to something when it would put 3 other children directly in harms way, we judge. We assume they were all wrong. We would rather assume that those who had the most access to evidence were tainted, and harp on an incident and judge someone we truly could not have known. That is so sad.

In reading the above linked article, many of the statements M.J. made just strike my heart. This man, boy, child... He was so lost, so scared. It doesn't take much to see that he behaved much like a frightened child. He was emotionally a child, and in a position most adults wouldn't be able to handle. Being the center of attention that he was, well, honestly, I don't think I could handle that. I don't think I'd ever want it. I think this was probably much like a game of dress-up for him, when he was on stage. He was thrust into the spotlight from such a young age, he didn't know anything else. Everyone will make up their own mind, I know, but it is none the less sad to me that we insist on judging this way.

Judge not, lest ye be judged.
What if people assumed every accusation about you was true?