175 lines
8.4 KiB
Plaintext
175 lines
8.4 KiB
Plaintext
Slander. Gossip, and Foul Speech
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World Scripture
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SLANDER. GOSSIP, AND FOUL SPEECH
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A malicious or loose tongue is the cause of much evil in the world. Since talk
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can cause damage to others and to oneself, one's words should be weighed
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carefully.
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The crime of bearing false witness in a court of law is singled out in the Ten
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Commandments as a specially grievous sin, since its consequences for the
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unjustly accused are so dire. In the ancient Mesopotamian law code of
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Hammurabi, a witness who falsely accused another of a crime was liable, if his
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perjury were uncovered, to a punishment identical to that for the crime which
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he laid upon the innocent party. Beyond the court of law, there are many other
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situations where a person is asked about some event or about the behavior of
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others. These are opportunities either to be truthful, or to bear false
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witness and cause others injury by damaging their reputations, sowing discord
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and mistrust between husband and wife or between friends, or even falsely
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implicating them in crimes.
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Furthermore, much damage can come from words said without careful deliberation
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and from tales repeated to others without first ascertaining whether they are
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true. One should be aware of the character and mind of the person to whom the
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words are said. Also, harsh and foul speech, cursing and reviling others, can
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lead to fighting and violence.
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You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
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1. Judaism and Christianity. Exodus 20.16
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One giving false evidence or uttering falsehood goes to Raurava hell.
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2. Hinduism. Markandeya Puranao
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Whoever commits a delinquency or crime, then throws it upon the innocent, has
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burdened himself with falsehood and a flagrant crime.
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3. Islam. Qur'an 4.112
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When he is cited and questioned as a witness before a council or a company or
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amid his relations or amid a guild or a royal family, and is told, "Now, my
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good man, say what you know," although he does not know, he says, "I know," and
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although he knows, he says, "I do not know"; although he has not seen, he says,
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"I saw," and although he has seen, he says, "I did not see." Thus his speech
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becomes intentional lying either for his own sake or for that of another or for
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the sake of some material gain or other. And he is a slanderer; having heard
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something at one place, he makes it known elsewhere for causing variance among
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those people... In this way he sows discord among those who were in harmony or
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foments those who were at variance. Discord is his pleasure, his delight, his
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joy, the motive of his speech.... If this kind of vocal conduct is followed,
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unskilled states of mind grow much, skilled states of mind decrease.
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4. Buddhism. Majjhima Nikaya iii.47-48, Sevitabbaasevitabba Sutta
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You who believe, if some perverse man should come up to you with some piece of
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news, clear up the facts lest you afflict some folk out of ignorance and some
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morning feel regretful for what you may have done....
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You who believe, do not let one folk ridicule another folk. Perhaps they are
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better than they are. Nor let women mistreat other women; perhaps they are
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better than themselves. Nor should you find fault with one another nor shout
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at one another using nicknames; it is bad to use a dirty name instead of one
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you can believe in. Those who do not turn away from it are wrongdoers.
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You who believe, refrain from being overly suspicious: some suspicion is a
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crime. Do not spy on one another, nor yet any of you slander others. Would one
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of you like to eat his dead brother's flesh? You would loathe it! Heed God,
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for God is Relenting, Merciful.
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5. Islam. Qur'an 49.6-12
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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Qur'an 4.112: Cf. Qur'an 4.135, p. 1019. Qur'an 49.6-12: Vv. 6, 11-12.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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There are eight faults that men may possess... you must not fail to examine
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these carefully. To do what is not your business to do is called
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officiousness. To rush forward when no one has nodded in your direction is
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called obsequiousness. To echo a man's opinions and try to draw him out in
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speech is called sycophancy. To speak without regard for what is right and
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wrong is called flattery. To delight in talking about other men's failings is
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called calumny. To break up friendships and set kinfolk at odds is called
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maliciousness. To praise falsely and hypocritically so as to cause injury and
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evil to others is called wickedness. Without thought for right and wrong, to
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try to face in two directions at once so as to steal a glimpse of the other
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party's wishes is called treachery. These eight faults inflict chaos on others
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and injury on the possessor. A gentleman will not befriend the man who
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possesses them, an enlightened ruler with not have him for a minister.
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6. Taoism. Chuang Tzu 31
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You shall not go up and down as a talebearer among your people.
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7. Judaism and Christianity. Leviticus 19.16
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If the ear does not hear malicious gossip, the heart is not grieved.
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8. African Traditional Religions. Yoruba Proverb (Nigeria)
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They [young widows] learn to be idlers, gadding about from house to house, and
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not only idlers but gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not.
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9. Christianity. 1 Timothy 5.13
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The tongue is an unrighteous world among our members, staining the whole body,
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setting on fire the cycle of nature, and set on fire by hell. For every kind
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of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed
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by humankind, but no human being can tame the tongue--a restless evil, full of
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deadly poison. With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse men,
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who are made in the likeness of God.
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10. Christianity. James 3.6-9
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A person is born with an axe in his mouth. He whose speech is unwholesome cuts
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himself with his axe.
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When a person praises someone who should be blamed, or attacks someone worthy
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of praise, then this man is accumulating evil with his mouth and this evil will
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not lead to happiness.
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It is little harm if one loses money in gambling with dice, even losing
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everything, including oneself; but if one bears ill-will towards well-conducted
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ones it is greater harm indeed. Insulting men of real worth, bearing ill-will
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in thought and speech, leads to eons upon eons in the states of misery.
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11. Buddhism. Sutta Nipata 657-60
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Leviticus 19.16: Cf. Abot 3.17, p. 920.
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A noisy bird builds a bad nest.
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12. African Traditional Religions. Kanufi Proverb (Nigeria)
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The origin of all trouble
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Within this world
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Is a single word
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Spoken in haste.
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13. Shinto. Moritake Arakida, One Hundred Poems About The World
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Speak not harshly to anyone. Those thus addressed will retort. Painful,
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indeed, is vindictive speech. Blows in exchange may bruise you.
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14. Buddhism. Dhammapada 133
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The Master said, "Where disorder develops, words are the first steps. If the
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prince is not discreet, he loses his servant. If the servant is not discreet,
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he loses his life. If germinating things are not handled with discretion, the
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perfecting of them is impeded."
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15. Confucianism. I Ching, Great Commentary 1.8.10
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To be always talking is against nature. For the same reason a hurricane never
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lasts a whole morning, nor a rain storm all day. Who is it that makes the wind
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and rain? It is Heaven and earth. And if even Heaven and earth cannot blow or
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pour for long, how much less in his utterances should man?
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16. Taoism. Tao Te Ching 23
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The Messenger of God... took hold of his tongue and said, "Restrain this." I
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said, "O Prophet of God, will what we say be held against us?" He said, "May
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your mother be bereaved of you, Mu`adah! Is there anything that topples people
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on their faces into hell-fire other than the harvests of their tongues?"
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17. Islam. Forty Hadith of an-Nawawi 29
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I Ching, Great Commentary 1.8.10: Cf. Micah 7.5-7, p. 953; Yoruba Song, pp.
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953f. Forty Hadith of an-Nawawi 29: Cf. Hadith of Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah, p.
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465.
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