LOS ANGELES -- Singer Michael Jackson has reportedly dropped out of the Jehovah's Witnesses, a move that could force members of his family who remain in the sect to shun the pop star.
An official of the Woodland Hills congregation, in which Jackson was once a member, was quoted in Sunday's Los Angeles Times as saying the singer has 'disassociated' himself from the religious organization.
The church official, who did not want to be identified, did not give a reason for Jackson's decision to leave the sect and said only that he left 'in the spring.'
A May 18 letter obtained by the Times from the organization's Brooklyn headquarters stated the group 'no longer considers Michael Jackson to be one of the Jehovah's Witnesses.'
The action normally means he must be shunned by relatives and friends who remain Jehovah's Witnesses, including Jackson's mother Katherine, a devout practioner.
Gary Botting, co-author of 'The Orwellian World of Jehovah's Witnesses,' said that dropping out of the Jehovah's Witnesses 'is worse than being disfellowshipped,' or kicked out.
'If you willfully reject God's only organization on Earth, that's the unforgivable sin ... the sin against the Holy Spirit,' said Botting, who remains a Witness himself.
A spokesman for Epic Records and Jackson's manager, Frank Dileo, said they do not make comments on the singer's personal life and would not ask Jackson to comment. The singer's publicist, Lee Solters, could not be reached for comment.
Jackson, 28, was probably the best known member of the Brooklyn-based Watchtower Bible and Tract Society -- as the Jehovah's Witnessess are officially known.
The group's 3 million members are known for persistent proselytizing and periodically predicting the end of the world.
Jackson's lifestyle, which includes abstinence from alcohol, tobacco, drugs, and junk food, has made him a symbol of purity for rock 'n' roll fans. He has been known to fast weekly to purge impurities and was until recently a devoted Jehovah's Witness whose Saturdays were spent in worship.
Although Jackson's anti-drug stance in public appearances conformed to the Witnesses' clean-living codes, the entertainer's Grammy-winning album 'Thriller' produced tensions with sect leaders in 1983 sparked by allegations the record and video encouraged occult beliefs. The video depicted Jackson being transformed into a monster.
However, Jackson was quoted in an issue of AWAKE!, a Witness magazine, as saying he would never make such a record or video again.
'Due to my strong personal convictions, I wish to stress that this film in no way endorses a belief in the occult,' Jackson said.
Sales of the 'Thriller' album hit the 24-million mark, placing Jackson in the Guinness Book of World Records as history's best-selling solo performer. Seven Top 10 hits emerged from the LP.
Jackson was in the news last week when his attempt to purchase the 97-year-old skeleton and remains of David Merrick, the grotesquely deformed 'Elephant Man,' was rebuffed by a London hospital.
