Feb 5, 2010
Why Do Many Religions Give Gossip a Bad Rap If It Can Be Beneficial?
Frank McAndrew Answers
I would not go so far as to say that “gossip can be good for you,” but I will say that gossip can have beneficial social effects, such as bonding people together and keeping cheaters in line because they know that others might gossip about their transgressions. Undeniably, gossip has negative effects on the individuals who are gossiped about if the gossip is negative, but sometimes, it can serve a greater good if these individuals acquire the nasty reputation they deserve.
Religion has understandably focused on the type of gossip that serves no purpose other than to advance one person’s selfish interests at the expense of another person’s reputation. In the quest to curtail the unkind and unfair behavior of individuals, religion may have been a bit too quick to throw the baby out with the bathwater. After all, even the Old Testament and the Gospels are full of stories about the sexual and financial misdeeds of people that would qualify as gossip in anyone’s book, but because this “gossip” is designed to teach valuable moral lessons and to serve as a warning to others, it is apparently OK.
Frank McAndrew is a professor of psychology at Knox College.
Really seems to me that the equation that gossip and storytelling are similar enough to encapsulate both; and that because stories might be told as moral fables, tales, or example, that there is justification in moralizing through gossip. The equation doesn’t equate. Moral responsibility has to include doing the least harm, and gossip is seldom if ever, intended to do good. . .story telling is often intended to provide moral examples and can exemplify good and evil, right and wrong — and granted, can resemble gossip, or exemplify gossip, but is intentional and not random; purposeful in the service of a greater good than erroneous misstatements often made to fill social vacuums regardless of their truth or their demonstrations of morality.