1987 - Michael Jackson officially severed his ties with the Johovah’s Witnesses. In-spite of what seemed repentance by Michael it became more and more difficult for him to reconcile his puritan Jehovah’s Witnesses faith with his career as an entertainer.
LaToya recounts in her biography that:
Once when an elder criticized, ‘Your movements on stage suggest sex; don’t do them anymore,’ my brother complied without protest and promptly changed the routine. He also invited an elder on tour to see for himself that he lived in harmony with all the faith’s rules, canvassed door to door, and attended all the meetings.
But by the spring of 1987 Michael was forced to come to terms with the fact that he could not continue to reconcile the circumstances of his life with the strict religious beliefs of the Jehovah’s Witnesses and in a letter, he formally dissociated himself from the Jehovah’s Witnesses organization. A press release by the Jehovah’s Witnesses headquarters in Brooklyn, New York, declared that Michael Jackson was no longer a member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Michael’s final decision to leave the Jehovah’s Witnesses seems to have been related to the circumstances of disfellowshipping of LaToya and he seemed to have rejected the instruction from the church elders to stop relating to his sister–Jehovah’s Witnesses are instructed by the organization to have no relationship with any Witness who had been disfellowshipped by the leadership.
According to LaToya:
One day I walked into Janet’s room to find Michael crying his eyes out. ‘LaToya, … I can’t talk to you ever again. … The elders had a big meeting, and they told me never to speak to you because you haven’t been coming to the Kingdom Hall. … they said that if I don’t stop talking to you, they’ll kick me out of the religion.’ … Michael decided to disobey the elders’ edict and after that never attended any more meetings. … he subsequently severed his ties to the organization through a formal letter. What made this painful episode even more agonizing was that for a long time I believed Michael might be one of the Remnant, the select 144,000.
After Michael dissociated himself from the group, the Watchtower Headquarters of the organization sent a letter to the Body of Elders and Circuit Overseers of the organization which included instructions not to comment to the media on the the matter of dissociation of Michael Jackson from the organization: In the even that representatives of the new media approach your convention news service department and inquire about Michael Jackson and his position, it would be best for the brother in charge not to comment. They should simply say that they have heard or know about the news report and have no further comment Michael’s children, after his tragic death on June 25, 2009, are now in the custody of their grandmother Katherine. They are reported to have begun attending Kingdom Hall meetings after their father’s death.
Source: MJJEternal / MJ-Upbeat.com
Animation for today:
It was interesting to read that part of the motive for leaving the JW was their disassociation of LaToya. I hadn’t heard that before. Michael’s ever creating spirit could not be controlled by anyone. I’m glad he had the courage to follow his heart and his convictions.