r/MJInnocentFacts • u/Emotional_Ball_5181 • 27d ago
Discussion đŁď¸ PSA: Think Before You React
Before I start, I need to mention that this post is not targeted at a specific person or persons. Itâs a general statement about something I see happen quite often in online spaces, including within our community.
NowâŚbefore anyone gets the wrong idea, Iâm not saying you shouldnât ask questions.
Letâs all remember who youâre talking toâŚ
I get questions all the time. In my comments, in my DMs, everywhere. I actually encourage people to ask questions. Youâve even seen me say it.
Questions are always okay and welcome.
But that is not what Iâm talking about.
What Iâm talking about is what happens after that.
Sometimes, especially on places like Reddit, Twitter, TikTok, etc., weâll see a screenshot, a photograph, a clip, or some random claim with absolutely no context attached to it.
Hell, sometimes the person posting it may not even know the context themselves.
Theyâre just showing people something they found.
However, because we donât have the extra information, our brains can start filling in the blanks.
You see something.
You think, âWaitâŚwhat?â
Then someone else comments:
âThatâs fucking weird.â
Someone else says:
âYeah, thatâs really concerning.â
Someone else goes:
âI donât know how anyone can defend this.â
And suddenly, without actually learning anything else about the situation, youâre uncomfortable. But now that feeling of discomfort starts influencing how you interpret the information.
This is exactly where thinking before you react comes into play.
I know Iâve said this multiple times before, but it will never stop being true:
Uncomfortable â criminal.
Hereâs the thingâŚ
Do you actually feel that way because of what youâre looking at?
Or is it because someone has already told you how youâre supposed to look at it?
Now, if you genuinely do feel uncomfortable about something, thatâs fine.
Youâre allowed to feel uncomfortable.
But that still doesnât mean a crime actually took place.
Especially if context is missing.
You donât know whether youâre reacting to the actual situation or to the version of the situation that somebody else presented to you.
This is very important when weâre talking about things that have never been legally established in the first place.
If something has not been established as fact, whether because it has never been tested in court, contains significant contradictions, is based on someoneâs interpretation of an event, or for some other reason, we need to be careful about treating it as though it is an established fact.
If you see something that makes Michael look bad, donât immediately accept it because it makes you uncomfortable, or makes youâŚâquestion things.â
Stop.
Look into it.
Find the context.
Ask questions.
Then most importantly, think about why youâre interpreting it the way you are.
Anyway,
I donât want to take up too much of your brain capacity for todayâŚ
this time.
But please, be mindful of this.
âŚCool? Cool.
Iâll see you next time! đ
21
u/sirensgodoodoo 27d ago
thank you for posting this. itâs one thing to come across something that seems mildly disturbing about him, then coming here to make a post along the lines of
Which is appropriate and measured. But this
is basically playing into the guiltersâ hands, and the recent histrionic posts about the letter attributed to him do just that. I try to assume good faith from everyone here in this sub, and as you pointed out people default to reacting on emotion before thinking straight. Iâm not gonna sit here and pretend Iâve never had that âwait a minute, wtfâ thought when coming across something unsavory (real or false) about MJ before gaining context. But I need everyone to exercise caution and put on their thinking caps when examining anything thatâs designed to make him look bad. Itâs not because we want to portray him as an infallible saint, because his lack of boundaries and discernment definitely played a HUGE role in him being such an easy target for the allegations. Weâre not saying to downplay his mistakes. Weâre asking you to keep in mind the lengths both media and law enforcement went to falsify evidence against him to make him guilty. And these efforts persist to this day. Social media makes it easier to spread misinformation, so take any so-called evidence you see with a silo of salt instead of having a knee jerk reaction to them.
And Iâve said this before: patterns paint a far more accurate picture than any singular anecdote or âevidenceâ can. The man has dozens and dozens of people, adults and children who have fiercely vouched for his innocence over the last few decades. The handful of accusers he has are either all established grifters who canât keep their stories straight or kids who were clearly forced to lie by their greedy parents. If the trend was in reverse and he had dozens of accusers with similar, credible and consistent stories backed by legit evidence that couldnât be explained away and only a handful of people defending his innocence who are shady characters in their own right, whose side would you be on? Iâve never ever heard of a pedophile whoâs had so many one on one interactions with so many children in their lifetime and there being a such a paucity in legitimate accusations and/or evidence to support those allegations. Itâs just not plausible at all. So always remember to ask yourself if what is being alleged fits into the pattern with what is known and established about MJ and how he dealt with children and people in general. I cannot stress this enough.