Death of an idol
Why is it that people go into a frenzy when a celebrity dies or when they are in the presence of a celebrity? I looked up the word ‘idol’ and aside from the religious definition; the word means “any person or thing regarded with blind admiration, adoration, or devotion.” Fans are heartbroken over the recent deaths of two celebrities.
To be sure, when someone steps into that inevitable journey we all must take someday; it is a loss for those of us that remain. It is perplexing that people idolize a celebrity not based on principles or ethics, i.e. their character, but on ‘talent’ or their status as a celebrity. I recently read that it is being speculated that Michael Jackson faked his death and that he will return. Elvis Presley also is still alive. President Obama was recently featured on the news on father’s day, spending time with his daughters at an ice cream parlor not unlike millions of fathers in this country.
Whole magazines are devoted to celebrities and their lives. The paparazzi remain employed because people want to hear the minutest details of the lives of celebrities. They want to know what they are wearing, who they are dating, what they eat, where they live. The fascination over the lives of ‘celebrities’ is reverence and adulation bestowed that simply does not belong to folks that we do not know. I have watched people defend the innocence of an accused celebrity based on nothing more than their devotion and adoration for they simply do not know the facts except that which is released to the media. Their judgment is based on their idolization of their celebrity and is not based on personal information that one might make about their spouse or friend whom they have gotten to know their character through personal interaction. I have watched people sleep on the sidewalk during the Emmys in order to get a glimpse of a celebrity who is nothing more than a human being like you and I.
The adulation that is bestowed on celebrities belongs to none other than to God. No one human being is deserving of the adoration or veneration that these celebrities are given. The esteem given to these celebrities is not based on knowing who they are for what we know about them is what we see reported. This excessive admiration and devotion given to them is an act of worship – hero worship.
In the end, they are no different than any other person in the eyes of God. The measuring stick that we use to measure a person’s worth has no bearing on God. A person’s worth is not based on how much money one earns, how well a person sings or acts, how many record labels they produce or how many movies they starred in or what job they held. The president of the United States has no more value than you or I or the janitor whose job it is to clean the bathrooms in my office building. I have no more value or worth than the person who cleans the bathrooms in my office building. I am more blessed in that my job allows me to do other than clean toilets. Make no mistake, I have no more value as a human being because of the station in life that I may enjoy.
No man or woman is deserving of adoration or veneration for that belongs to God only. The idolization paid to celebrities is nothing short of worship.
