Pulled this from another forum:
Michael Jackson
OK, Somebody has to say it. I am already very tired of the headlines concerning how "the world is mourning the loss of Michael Jackson." Even the Pope made a statement about the great loss to humanity . . .
Folks, we have young men and women giving up their lives for our country and the freedom of others every day. There are young people in Iran who are probably going to be beheaded because they support free elections.
There are thousands of children and girls kidnapped every day for the sex trade in Africa and the Far East. And yes, there ARE starving children in Africa . . . STILL! Michael Jackson was not a humanitarian. He squandered millions on his own lavish pleasures. He is not a spiritual man. He was an odd little man who fondled little boys. Quit anointing him to sainthood.
I have friends who died in the jungles of Vietnam 35 years ago, and their memory and their sacrifice are STILL more important to me than a dance video. "Thriller" did not change my life. The loss of brave hero friends changed my life.
You want to mourn something? - Then mourn the homeless, mourn the abused children, mourn the abused women, mourn with the family of a fallen soldier, mourn for the veteran who served his or her country and now spends dreary days in dilapidated hospitals.
If you want to celebrate lives . . then celebrate the teacher who taught you to read, celebrate the coach who showed you how to kick a soccer ball, celebrate the clergy who stand with you in times of sorrow, celebrate the lives of those who hold you in their hearts daily . . . Celebrate your friends, your children, your parents, your siblings.
Nuff said...... I'll get down off of my soapbox...
"Adore God. Reverence and cherish your parents. Love your neighbor as yourself, and your country more than yourself.. Be just. Be true. Murmur not at the ways of Providence." -Thomas Jefferson
Tom in Vermont