Editing Gossip (section)

==Various views==
Some see gossip as trivial, hurtful and socially, spiritually<ref>
{{cite book
 |last1                = Walker
 |first1               = Benjamin
 |author-link1         = Benjamin Walker (author)
 |year                 = 1980
 |title                = The Encyclopedia of the Occult, the Esoteric, and the Supernatural
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=zOFXAAAAYAAJ
 |series               = A Scarborough book, volume 6051
 |publisher            = Stein and Day
 |page                 = 313
 |isbn                 = 9780812860511
 |access-date          = 27 April 2024
 |quote                = Self-indulgence, self-assertion, boasting, idle gossip and chatter, excuses and alibis, attenuate the spirit and erode the will. As far as possible these must be avoided.
}} 
</ref>
and/or intellectually{{citation needed|date=April 2024}} unproductive. Some people view gossip as a lighthearted way of spreading information.{{citation needed|date=April 2024}} [[Authority (sociology)|Authorities]] or would-be authorities may have a negative view of gossip as something undesirable or dangerous.<ref>
{{cite book
 |last1                = Adkins
 |first1               = Karen
 |date                 = 22 February 2017
 |chapter              = Failure to Communicate: Gossip as Institutional Conflict: Institutional Responses and Invisible Gossip
 |title                = Gossip, Epistemology, and Power: Knowledge Underground
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=ec4wDgAAQBAJ
 |publication-place    = Cham, Zug
 |publisher            = Springer
 |page                 = 91
 |isbn                 = 9783319478401
 |access-date          = 27 April 2024
 |quote                = Studies of rumor and gossip in the business world treat rumor and gossip as things to be managed or controlled [...].
}} 
</ref><ref>
{{cite book
 |last1                = Waddington
 |first1               = Kathryn
 |date                 = 21 August 2012
 |chapter              = Gossip and Identity
 |title                = Gossip and Organizations
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=jydhkw0mqdMC
 |series               = Routledge Studies in Management, Organizations and Society
 |edition              = reprint
 |publication-place    = New York
 |publisher            = Routledge
 |page                 = 90
 |isbn                 = 9781136279812
 |access-date          = 27 April 2024
 |quote                = [...] danger of gossip as something that is addictive and toxic [...].
}} 
</ref>
Philosophical analysis by [[Emrys Westacott]] points to the role of gossip in (for example) cementing friendships and combatting abuses of power.<ref>
{{cite book
 |last1                = Westacott
 |first1               = Emrys
 |author-link1         = Emrys Westacott
 |date                 = 24 November 2013
 |orig-date            = 2012
 |chapter              = The Ethics of Gossiping
 |title                = The Virtues of Our Vices: A Modest Defense of Gossip, Rudeness, and Other Bad Habits
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=2mqYDwAAQBAJ
 |publication-place    = Princeton, New Jersey
 |publisher            = Princeton University Press
 |page                 = 99
 |isbn                 = 9780691162218
 |access-date          = 27 April 2024
 |quote                = [...] we should be suspicious of the censorious attitude that moralists have traditionally taken toward gossip [...] there is more to be said in its favor than is commonly appreciated, and very often more to be said for it than against it. In relation to both the individual and society it has many positive aspects that tend to be overlooked.
}} 
</ref>
A [[feminism|feminist]] definition of [https://www.gossip99.com/ gossip] presents it as "a way of talking between women, intimate in style, personal and domestic in scope and setting, a female cultural event which springs from and perpetuates the restrictions of the female role, but also gives the comfort of validation." (Jones, 1990:243)

===In early modern England===
<!-- this section might fit better in an as-yet non-existent article called something like [[gossip (companion)]] -->

In [[Early modern Britain|early modern England]], the word "gossip" referred to companions in [[childbirth]], not limited to the [[midwife]]. It also became a term for women-friends generally, with no necessary derogatory connotations. (OED n. definition 2. a. "A familiar acquaintance, friend, chum", supported by references from 1361 to 1873). It commonly referred to an informal local [[sorority]] or social group, who could enforce socially acceptable behavior through private censure or through public rituals, such as "[[rough music]]", the [[cucking stool]] and the [[skimmington ride]].

In [[Thomas Harman]]'s ''Caveat for Common Cursitors'' 1566 a '[[Thieves' cant|walking mort]]' relates how she was forced to agree to meet a man in his barn, but informed his wife. The wife arrived with her "five furious, sturdy, muffled gossips" who catch the errant husband with "his hosen [trousers] about his legs" and give him a sound beating. The story clearly functions as a [[morality tale]] in which the gossips uphold the [[social order]].<ref>Bernard Capp, ''When Gossips Meet: Women, Family and Neighbourhood in Early Modern England'', [[Oxford University Press]], 2003. {{ISBN|0-19-925598-9}}</ref>

Sir Herbert Maxwell Bart, in ''The Chevalier of the Splendid Crest'' [1900] at the end of chapter three portrays the king as referring to his loyal knight "Sir Thomas de Roos" in kindly terms as "my old gossip". Whilst a historical novel of that time the reference implies a continued use of the term "Gossip" as a childhood friend as late as 1900.{{dubious|date=April 2024}}

===In Judaism===
{{main|Lashon hara}}
Judaism considers gossip spoken without a constructive purpose (known in Hebrew as "evil tongue", ''lashon hara'') to be a [[sin]]. Speaking negatively about people, even if retelling true facts, counts as sinful, as it demeans the dignity of man — both the speaker and the subject of the gossip.
According to ''[[Book of Proverbs|Proverbs]]'' 18:8: "The words of a gossip are like choice morsels: they go down to a man's innermost parts."

===In Christianity===
The Christian perspective on gossip typically aligns with modern cultural assumptions of the phenomenon, especially with the assumption that generally speaking, gossip is negative speech.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Meng | first1 = Margaret | year = 2008 | title = Gossip: Killing Us Softly | journal = Homiletic and Pastoral Review | volume = 109 | pages = 26–31 }}</ref><ref>Sedler, M.D. (2001). ''Stop the Runaway Conversation: Take Control Over Gossip and Criticism''. Grand Rapids: Chosen.</ref><ref>Mitchell, Mathew C. (2013). ''Resisting Gossip: Winning the War of the Wagging Tongue''. Fort Washington: CLC Publications.</ref> However, due to the complexity of the phenomenon, biblical scholars have more precisely identified the form and function of [https://web.archive.org/web/20200207121831/https://www.gossiplanka.info/ gossip], even identifying a socially positive role for the social process as it is described in the [[New Testament]].<ref>Daniels, John W. (2013). ''Gossiping Jesus: The Oral Processing of Jesus in John's Gospel''. Eugene: Pickwick Publications.</ref><ref>Daniels, John W. (2012). "Gossip in the New Testament". ''Biblical Theology Bulletin'' 42/4. pp. 204-213.</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Botha | first1 = Pieter J. J. | year = 1998 | title = Paul and Gossip: A Social Mechanism in Early Christian Communities | journal = Neotestamentica | volume = 32 | pages = 267–288 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Botha | first1 = Pieter J. J. | year = 1993 | title = The Social Dynamics of the Early Transmission of the Jesus Tradition | journal = Neotestamentica | volume = 27 | pages = 205–231 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Kartzow | first1 = Marianne B | year = 2005 | title = Female Gossipers and their Reputation in the Pastoral Epistles | journal = Neotestamentica | volume = 39 | pages = 255–271 }}</ref><ref>Kartzow, Marianne B. (2009). ''Gossip and Gender: Othering of Speech in the Pastoral Epistles''. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.</ref><ref>Kartzow, Marianne B. (2010) [http://www.lectio.unibe.ch/10_1/kartzow2.html "Resurrection as Gossip: Representations of Women in Resurrection Stories of the Gospels"], ''Lectio Difficilior'' 1.</ref><ref>Rohrbaugh, Richard L. (2007). "Gossip in the New Testament". ''The New Testament in Cross-Cultural Perspective''. Eugene: Cascade Books.</ref> Of course, this does not mean that there are ''not'' numerous texts in the New Testament that see gossip as dangerous negative speech.

Thus, for example, the [[Epistle to the Romans]] associates gossips ("backbiters") with a list of sins including sexual immorality and with murder:

<blockquote>
:28: And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
:29: Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
:30: Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
:31: Without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
:32: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. (Romans 1:28-32)
</blockquote>

According to [[Matthew 18]], Jesus also taught that conflict-resolution among church members ought to begin with the aggrieved party attempting to resolve their dispute with the offending party alone. Only if this did not work would the process escalate to the next step, in which another church member would become involved. After that if the person at fault still would not "hear", the matter was to be fully investigated by the church elders, and if not resolved to be then exposed publicly.

Based on texts like these portraying gossip negatively, many Christian authors generalize on the phenomenon. So, in order to gossip, writes Phil Fox Rose, we "must harden our heart towards the 'out' person. We draw a line between ourselves and them; define them as being outside the rules of Christian charity... We create a gap between ourselves and God's Love." As we harden our heart towards more people and groups, he continues, "this negativity and feeling of separateness will grow and permeate our world, and we'll find it more difficult to access God's love in any aspect of our lives."<ref>Phil Fox Rose, [http://www.patheos.com/blogs/philfoxrose/2012/10/gossip-hardens-our-hearts/ "Gossip hardens our hearts"], ''Patheos''. Accessed February 23, 2013.</ref>

The New Testament is also in favor of group accountability (Ephesians 5:11; 1st Tim 5:20; James 5:16; Gal 6:1-2; 1 Cor 12:26), which may be associated with gossip.

Gossip as a breach of secrecy has parallels with [[confession (religion)|confession]]: the medieval Christian church sought to control both from its position as a powerful regulator.<ref>
{{cite book
 |last1                = Lochrie
 |first1               = Karma
 |date                 = 28 May 2012
 |orig-date            = 1999
 |chapter              = Tongues Wagging: Gossip, Women, and Indiscreet Secrets
 |title                = Covert Operations: The Medieval Uses of Secrecy
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=QcHwYHg_ygUC
 |series               = The Middle Ages Series
 |publication-place    = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
 |publisher            = University of Pennsylvania Press
 |page                 = 56
 |isbn                 = 9780812207194
 |access-date          = 27 April 2024
 |quote                = [...] confession and gossip are closer in nature than the medieval church would have liked, in spite of the elaborate system of regulation it devised for the sacrament [...]. Both 'thrive in secret,' [...] both arguably speak what 'need to be said'; and both types of discourse are irrepressible even as they insist on secrecy and containment [...]. [...] It is the different cultural status assigned to the two and the stigmatization of gossip that makes all the difference. Gossiping was considered in the Middle Ages to be a vice, while confession, of course, was not.
}} 
</ref>

===In Islam===
{{main|ghibah}}
[[Islam]] calls tattling as namimah (نميمة), 
it is also related to [[ghibah]] ([[backbiting]]), which is the equivalent of eating the flesh of one's dead brother. According to Muslims, backbiting harms its victims without offering them any chance of defense, just as dead people cannot defend against their flesh being eaten. Muslims are expected to treat others like brothers (regardless of their beliefs, skin-color, gender, or ethnic origin), deriving from Islam's concept of brotherhood amongst its believers.

===In the Baháʼí Faith===

The [[Baháʼí Faith]] labels backbiting as the "worst human quality and the most great sin..."<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.bahaiquotes.com/quotepage.php?Quotes%2FBackbiting|website=Bahai Quotes.com |access-date=11 November 2017|title=Backbiting|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180924224839/http://www.bahaiquotes.com/quotepage.php?Quotes%2FBackbiting|archive-date= 24 September 2018|url-status= dead}}</ref>{{dubious|date=September 2024}} In their faith, murder would be considered less negative than backbiting. [[Bahá’u’lláh]], the Prophet-Founder of the Baháʼí Faith stated: "Backbiting quencheth the light of the heart, and extinguished the life of the soul."<ref>{{cite web |url= https://bahai.works/Lights_of_Guidance/Backbiting,_Criticism,_Faultfinding,_Gossip,_Lies,_Slander_Etc. |website= Bahai.works|title= Lights of Guidance/Backbiting, Criticism, Faultfinding, Gossip, Lies, Slander Etc. - Bahaiworks, a library of works about the Baháʼí Faith}}</ref>{{dubious|date=September 2024}}