Persecuting the 'Different"
All this commotion about Michael Jackson's death astonishes me. It astonishes me not because the commotion exists---that is no surprise----but that such a person could garner so much support. Here is one of the weirdest humans on the planet, maybe even involving misbehavior with children, and yet aside from the millions of fans who adore him, there are even more who are sympathetic to him. I guess I am in the latter.
His musical genius has always escaped me, even when he was part of the Jackson Five. But that is no matter, whatever music anyone likes they like. There is no right or wrong involved. Aside from any musical talent he is just plain weird. The particulars of his weirdness are well enough known, no need to list them. BUT REALLY, how is it that with his weirdness we empathize, and others with strange behaviors and looks we have so little tolerance?
Personally, I can tolerate deviations from the norm up to the point meanness is involved. Meanness is the line in the sand for me. Oddness is more curiosity and intrigue than any particular desire to punish them for their oddness. Man's cruelty to man is obvious. History has shown just how cruel humans of one bent can be to those of another bent. Slavery, religious persecution, gender discriminations, ethnic discrimination, sexual orientation discrimination, social discrimination, recreational drug use discrimination, athletic discrimination, body appearance discrimination, political discrimination, blood line discrimination, and the list goes on and on. Difference, all too often, with no logical or recriminational motivations, leads to persecution---often with legal support. I don't know of any ethnic, nationality, religious, cultural, or religious group exempt from senseless persecution of those who are different. Americans---possessing the power, wealth, natural resources, and physical space to be persecutory---can do so with the least pressure to admit it. We simply murdered 2 million Vietnamese because they had the audacity to fight dominance of their country by foreigners. We are never invaders, we are always 'freedom fighters'---good Christians---blessed by God with a manifest destiny to go forth and rule the world. Stating this in no way diminishes the good America has done, both abroad and domestically. One never excludes the other. But neither does one justify the other.
But amongst all this history we have Michael Jackson, one of the weirdest characters by any measure, and yet he is either beloved or the recipient of empathy from most people. Amazing. At least to me. Exemptions from the general nature of humans to persecute exist, and Michael Jackson is a textbook case.
