Editing Gossip (section)

===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>