Religion and Gossip

Part of my research into the subject of gossip includes a review of what the great religions have said about the act of gossiping. Gossiping is generally associated with slander and back-biting and universally condemned by all religions.

Christianity is a good example with prohibitions against gossip go back millennia in the faith. These prohibitions are interwoven into the teachings of many of the great Christian thinkers. In the Apostle Paul’s writing, gossiping is sin, akin to other misdeeds as grave as greed, murder and slander. In his famous letter to the Romans, he writes “They are gossips…they know God’s decree, that those who practice such things deserve to die.” Whew – that’s perhaps a bit heavier a punishment than we might prescribe, though it does neatly illustrate the passion Paul felt toward the transgression.

Elsewhere, the Bible has several references to gossip, perhaps the most on-point being: “You shall not go about as a slanderer." (Lev. 19-16), “This is the sort of gossip which tarnishes reputations, divulges secrets,” (Proverbs 20:19), “reignites quarrels” (26:20-26), and “leaves friendships in ruins.” (16:27-28).

What is particularly important to emphasize is that the great religions see gossiping as a transgression on the same level as other serious wrong doing. Thus, while gossiping tends to focus on the sins of the others, the act of doing gossip is viewed as a deadly sin similar to what is being talked about.