Religious Plurality Within Families
With Michael Jackson's memorials now planned and largely performed, blogs and news articles have been looking at the variety of beliefs in Jackson's life: his mother is a Jehovah Witness, his brother is Muslim, his ex-wife is Jewish, and Michael himself seemed to be seeking.
While such a variety of faiths within a family was rare in previous centuries, when people rarely had exposure to a multitude of religions, such situations are increasingly common.
And it's not because society has suddenly become lost or confused. people don't become interested in religions about which they've never heard. Today, an entire planet worth of religion is available for those who are looking, and even those who are not actively seeking often interact with people of other faiths.
As for what Michael's own faith was, I consider it between him and God (or other deity of your choice). There have been rumors of him investigating Islam and taking interest in Judaism and Kabbalah. Good for him.
Comments
My feeling is that when you have a large family, where each member is relatively wealthy and famous, I think its natural to see a variety of belief systems creep in. The family was close, but not that close.
Each family member is being exploited and tugged on in different directions by people who have an interest in steering them.
It sounds like Michael explored several religions (to some extent), with the latest and greatest being Islam.
How interested Michael was in religion overall, and how introspective and deep his inner-life was, I don’t think we’ll ever know (and honestly probably shouldn’t really care – LOL)
As a Baha’i, it is the duty of mine to teach all the major religions to my children so that they may at the age of 15 decide for themselves what they believe. I have six children, five of whom are now adults. One is Christian, two follow Budda’s teachings, one is an atheist, one is a Baha’i, and the youngest is attending three religious courses per week studying Judaism, Christianity and the Baha’i faiths.I frankly am happy to have such religious diversity in my family!