On Gossip, Slander and the Internet
I often receive emails from friends, or see Facebook postings, which contain patently false information. The content has usually been copied & pasted or forwarded from elsewhere and is usually from a Conservative perspective. The subject is usually Barack Obama or Atheists or Illegal Immigrants or some current political issue. 9 times out of 10, it takes me less than a minute of checking Snopes or doing a Google search to determine that the claims are either false or grossly distorted.
What particularly troubles me about these messages is that they almost always come from people who profess to be Christians. I've developed a standard reply to them, which is to point out the falsehood along with a reminder that Christians are supposed to be people of the Truth, not people of half-truths and Internet rumors. After all, why should people listen to our message about the Savior when we've developed a reputation for spreading inaccurate information?
But I think there is more to this issue than that. To knowingly or carelessly propigate false information about someone is not just wrong. It is serious sin. Many of these emails and postings clearly fall under what the Bible defines as "gossip" and "slander".
There are several Hebrew and Greek words used in the Bible which are translated into English as "gossip". They all carry the idea of making malicious and knowingly false statements about someone. The dictionary, defines “gossip” as “To indulge in idle talk or rumors about others; spreading of sensational stories; malicious talk about others.”
The Book of Proverbs says “The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to a man’s inmost parts” (Prov. 18:8 & 26:22) and “...without wood a fire goes out; without gossip a quarrel dies down” (Prov. 26:20). Gossip is alluring and fun and keeps the controversies alive, but it also poisons us.
A related word is "slander". Merriam-Webster defines slander as “malicious talk; to spread damaging information; to defame; to speak ill of.”
The intent of slander and malicious gossip is to do harm. These words describe someone who goes about actively seeking to spread falsities about another.
The Psalmist wrote of those who gossip: "You love evil rather than good, falsehood rather than speaking the truth. You love every harmful word, O you deceitful tongue!" (Psalms 52:3-4)
In Romans 1:28-32, Paul equates gossip and slander with all kinds of ungodly behavior that no Christian would want to own, even saying that they are sins deserving of death!:
"And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them."
"Yes," someone might say, "but Obama is a public figure. That makes it different." I would respond by saying let me know when you find the scripture that allows gossip and slander in the case of "public figures."
So, does this mean that it is wrong to criticize the President or atheist college professors or U.S. immigration policy? No, of course not. What it does mean is that we have a responsibility to be as sure as we can that our criticisms are fair and honest. I may despise someone's politics, but that doesn't give me permission to spread falsehoods about them. Nor does it get me off the hook for not doing a little fact-checking before I forward something. And before I hit the "Send" button, I need to stop and ask myself this question: "What is my intent?"
Like the Psalmist, we need to watch our ways and keep our tongues (and fingers) from sin and put a muzzle on our mouths (and keyboards) (Psalm 39:1)
"Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind." (1 Peter 2:1)
"Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ." (Ephesians 4:15)
What particularly troubles me about these messages is that they almost always come from people who profess to be Christians. I've developed a standard reply to them, which is to point out the falsehood along with a reminder that Christians are supposed to be people of the Truth, not people of half-truths and Internet rumors. After all, why should people listen to our message about the Savior when we've developed a reputation for spreading inaccurate information?
But I think there is more to this issue than that. To knowingly or carelessly propigate false information about someone is not just wrong. It is serious sin. Many of these emails and postings clearly fall under what the Bible defines as "gossip" and "slander".
There are several Hebrew and Greek words used in the Bible which are translated into English as "gossip". They all carry the idea of making malicious and knowingly false statements about someone. The dictionary, defines “gossip” as “To indulge in idle talk or rumors about others; spreading of sensational stories; malicious talk about others.”
The Book of Proverbs says “The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to a man’s inmost parts” (Prov. 18:8 & 26:22) and “...without wood a fire goes out; without gossip a quarrel dies down” (Prov. 26:20). Gossip is alluring and fun and keeps the controversies alive, but it also poisons us.
A related word is "slander". Merriam-Webster defines slander as “malicious talk; to spread damaging information; to defame; to speak ill of.”
The intent of slander and malicious gossip is to do harm. These words describe someone who goes about actively seeking to spread falsities about another.
The Psalmist wrote of those who gossip: "You love evil rather than good, falsehood rather than speaking the truth. You love every harmful word, O you deceitful tongue!" (Psalms 52:3-4)
In Romans 1:28-32, Paul equates gossip and slander with all kinds of ungodly behavior that no Christian would want to own, even saying that they are sins deserving of death!:
"And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them."
"Yes," someone might say, "but Obama is a public figure. That makes it different." I would respond by saying let me know when you find the scripture that allows gossip and slander in the case of "public figures."
So, does this mean that it is wrong to criticize the President or atheist college professors or U.S. immigration policy? No, of course not. What it does mean is that we have a responsibility to be as sure as we can that our criticisms are fair and honest. I may despise someone's politics, but that doesn't give me permission to spread falsehoods about them. Nor does it get me off the hook for not doing a little fact-checking before I forward something. And before I hit the "Send" button, I need to stop and ask myself this question: "What is my intent?"
Like the Psalmist, we need to watch our ways and keep our tongues (and fingers) from sin and put a muzzle on our mouths (and keyboards) (Psalm 39:1)
"Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind." (1 Peter 2:1)
"Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ." (Ephesians 4:15)
6 Comments:
Spot on...I am semi-retired journalist and a Quaker who lives in Mexico and am astounded by the things I read or hear supposedly educated people who called themselves Christian say about the things you touch on.
BRAVO!
I am so tired of this. My family roll their eyes when I say I checked the information - usually by going straight to the source and just asking whether what has been passed on is factually correct. But it seems to me that if you're willing to expend lots of energy passing this stuff on and using it to base your "we're going to hell in a handbasket"/"political correctness gone mad"/generally anti-social, venomous diatribes on, it is bizarre not to actually check.
Thing is, people don't check because they WANT it to be true. It confirms a prejudice that they find unbearably difficult to have challenged. It's usually part of their identity in some way - the world's changing and that means either I have to change or the world is wrong, wrong, wrong, and I'm scared that having to change means everything I believe might be wrong. It's a deliberate self-disempowerment. There's no interest in fact checking, no interest in listening, no interest in getting out there and making changes. The people who rant the most are the people who do the least in their communities, or whose community work involves only the people who are just like them, shoring up that mind set again.
I have been through butting heads. Now I realise that just giving people the facts is not what they want. I want to give people support without supporting views I believe are harmful to them and others, and see if by really listening to the underlying fear I can help them to recognise that they are more powerful than they imagined, and don't need to shore up such rigid ideas about themselves and others. I know how hard it is to let go of dysfunctional beliefs. Goodness knows I have found it painful to do so, though it gets easier with practice. I'm not there yet, so I don't want to patronise. I'm just trying to let the Spirit guide me, and set my ego aside as much as I can. I hope to get better at that.
I agree. I was equally disturbed at the hate that was spread (and some things that were not supported by facts) about Bush. It seems that politics can guide people too easily and not the words of Truth, and to be fair, it sure works both ways.
You're right Scott. I don't know if it's because there are more conservatives in my circle of friends or if the liberals/progressives that I know tend to be more circumspect about sending such things. I can honestly say though that I have never received as many of these bogus email as I have since Obama took office.
Just today I got one from a pastor claiming that Obama has ordered the USPS to issue a new "Muslim" stamp (there is a stamp commemorating the Muslim holiday of EID but it has been around since 2001).
But you're right, it does work both ways.
Scott, Anonymous and "Memo", I appreciate your comments!
I too have had to deal with forwarded emails that are nothing but hate-filled diatribes. I have a right-wing friend in Ohio who constantly forwards me emails that spew outright lies about gays, liberals, secularists, minorities, Muslims and illegal immigrants. They are always about some new "danger" to America that the group in question is posing.
It takes only a few minutes of fact checking to prove that the emails are based on lies and when I write back and tell her why the email was incorrect she refuses to believe me! (She always says MY sources are biased! Like Snopes for instance. >sigh<)
The sad part is that this friend of mine claims to be a born-again Christian! But yet she always forwards hateful emails full of lies and half-truths. I don't get it. I have told her it is a sin to slander people but it means nothing to her since she believes everything in those emails.
To mean being a Christian means that you are filled with Christ's love and want to share that love with the world. I personally think that a lot of people who call themselves "Christian" have no real idea what that means.
Thank you for posting this! This goes right along with what I've been saying for years - passing this garbage along is gossip, plain and simple. It's hateful and not at all Christian. I don't think anyone, in this day and age can claim that they "just didn't realize" they were spreading false rumors. Pretty much everyone with internet access is aware by now, that not everything you read on the internet is true, so EVERYONE should know by now, to CHECK their facts before they spread this stuff around!
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