I just saw a headline titled “Blame Michael Jackson, not his doctors.” I did not read the article. I did not have to. I have already watched enough news coverage whether it is about Michael Jackson or otherwise to know that our society allows us to place blame on everything except for where it really belongs, each of us individually.
It is unpleasant to talk about someone that has already left this earth. Yet, headlines about Michael Jackson continue to abound. The fact of the matter is that Michael Jackson was not forced to take any drugs; he did that all on his own. Sure, any doctor that prescribes medication that is not warranted or prescribes medication to appease a patient is guilty of that offense. And the doctor(s) have no excuse for they did what they wanted to do for whatever benefit they were to obtain from Michael Jackson. They were not forced to write prescriptions. Anyone that takes drugs for other than its intended purpose bears their own responsibility.
We live in a society where blame is assigned to whatever we can find except to where it belongs. A bad childhood becomes an excuse for bad or criminal behavior as an adult. I even read an article where fast food establishments are being blamed for obesity in children despite the fact that parents are feeding their children predominately fast food. People are blaming their thyroids on being overweight. It appears that this country has collectively developed an epidemic of thyroid disease. No responsibility is taken for what we put in our bodies for our problems are not what we put in our bodies but bad thyroid. Criminal behavior is assigned to other than where it belongs, bad childhood, too much sugar, or whatever else we can find to alleviate our responsibility.
When all is said and done, each of us is personally responsible for our own individual behavior. Whether any one of us choose to engage in a criminal activity because of a hurtful background is up to each of us individually. No one forces any of us to eat ourselves into oblivion because of a past hurt. Comfort foods are what we individually choose for ourselves, or we can choose not to comfort ourselves with a pint of ice cream. Coming from an abusive home does not excuse anyone from abusing our own children or other bad choices. No one forces anyone to abuse a child or other criminal acts. That is a choice someone makes on their own, no force involved.
Each person that stands before God on the day of judgment will be judged individually for their own actions. There will be no ‘twinkie defense’ permitted. Committing a crime as a result of anger from past childhood hurt or abuse will not be a defense that God will accept. By the same token, those that abused will be judged for their committed sins. Each one of us is responsible for our own actions alone and we are not held responsible for what others commit.
The Michael Jackson headline is correct. The doctor(s) are not responsible for his death. Michael Jackson alone is responsible for any addictions he had. For that addiction, he paid a high price, his life. The doctors are responsible for feeding and succumbing to Michael’s demands for addictive medication when not medically warranted. Each one bears their own responsibility for their own sin. God will judge each person for their own committed act.
In the meantime, our society has allowed for us to place blame on others.
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1 comment
Jesse
August 18, 2009 at 12:32 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I completely agree. It’s a lot like the same saying that your guilty by association. It’s honestly quite sad how the society, overall, revolves around this highly media stated people. In the end, when you make decisions, no matter what the outcome, you have no one to blame except for yourself if they turn sour.
A lot of people now don’t even realize this, and feel that them placing the blame on others is a more reasonable method. Which makes absolutely no sense to me at all. Take responsibility for what you have done, be a man about it, or a woman, and just go do what you need to do.
I really liked this post.