Just returned from a trip to Nicaragua with my oldest daughter, Michelle, and her boyfriend. We visited Granada and Ometepe Island and had a great time. At least until the last night when I came down with Nicaragua’s version of Montezuma’s revenge, which I have now appropriately named “Nicarao’s Revenge” (after the legendary cacique that Nicaraguans have lofted to mythical proportions). The drive back to Costa Rica turned into a two-day ordeal riddled with numerous bathroom pit-stops. That part….not fun. The morning after our return I flip on the television to the touching spectacle of Michael Jackson’s public commemoration. It was a moving affair. I actually missed much of it, but what I saw brought me to tears. Despite all those that still want to criticize and tear down the man even after death, there are so many that felt deep affection for him. And I think it should be obvious that those who were eulogizing Jackson so emotionally and eloquently knew him on a much deeper level than, say, Sean Hannity, who seems to have nothing but contempt for a guy who brought a lot of joy to the world. I started asking myself why is it that people who seem different, or by the standards of some, weird, are so viciously and relentlessly maligned by others? For most people Michael Jackson was an enigma. But not for all people. Not for those that loved him and really knew him. Not for his childhood friend, Brooke Shields. Not for his beautiful daughter who brought the whole world to tears when she said “I love you daddy.” Michael Jackson the musician, the performer, transcended boundaries of race, religion, ethnicity, color, nationality and so on. I know that here in Costa Rica and in Nicaragua his death was a major event. You could not go into a bar without hearing a Jackson tune or seeing Thriller playing on the television, or video screen. So I say to all the Sean Hannity-s out there, maybe it is you who just doesn’t get it. Just because someone is different, doesn’t make them a legitimate target of your derision. We generally put down others who are different than us in order to elevate ourselves. But in doing so we only demonstrate the ugliness of bigotry. Websters defines a “bigot” as “a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices.” But the truth is that while everyone might be entitled to their own opinion, no one is entitled to pre-judge anyone else. We are given certain rights are humans. The U.S. declaration of independence calls them “inalienable rights.” But there is one right that is conspicuously absent from that list and that is the right to judge others, or to “pre-judge” them. Pre-judgment, or “prejudice” is to judge someone simply by an outward trait or characteristic, without really knowing who that person is. We heard many eulogize Jackson that knew the man on a infinitely deeper level than his critics and their voices should drown out the bigotry once and for all. Pre-judgment (or actually judgement of others at all) is one right that God withheld from us because in His infinite wisdom He knew that our exercise of such a right would be flawed and abusive. And throughout history it certainly has been. Thank God for the fact that we humans are different and that Michael Jackson was as unique as they come. And his uniqueness brought joy to countless souls on every corner of this planet. That is what matters, Mr. Hannity. I guess it is now time for Michael Jackson to have his own form of revenge on the countless hordes that hounded him to the grave. Maybe it is time for each one of them to take a hard look at that man in the mirror and to ask him if he’ll change his ways.
Do not judge, or you to will be judged. Matthew 7:1
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