Clear Thinking

I like to think of myself as a good critical thinker, although that may not be entirely true. At the very least, I have a healthy skepticism about what I read and see. Plenty of other people, friends included, don't give off that impression too much. When a rebellion breaks out in some oppressed country, they're inclined to assume that the rebels are good because they hate someone bad. I wonder whether the rebels might not be worse.

This thing happened the other day that really annoyed me. It wasn't on the same level as one of those things, but it still left me upset. There was that horrific massacre a few days ago, which made me despair for the prospect of more peaceful days. I would settle for more clear-headed thinking than we seem to get. I don't know why we look to celebrities for statements to make sense of such a tragedy, but we do.

A commentary on the tragedy was offered, allegedly, by actor Morgan Freeman. Numerous friends of mine shared it on Facebook. I read it, and didn't really sense the thinking of Freeman in it. It sounded too perfect- too much like a monologue he would have given in a Batman movie or something else. He's got this incredible voice, and it's easy for him to lend great gravitas to the words of a screenwriter. I don't know that he's given to conceiving such words himself.

There was nothing in the posts I read that offered proof of authenticity. I resolved to research the matter in hopes of ascertaining where and when he would have said this. I found nothing except the same statement in a myriad of dubious blogs and other websites. I decided that it was a fake, like the numerous Twitter accounts which purport to be Freeman. I debated attempting to debunk it, but figured it would be a waste of time and energy.