Gossip – The Discussion Continues

As Catholics, we believe that humans are further evolved than monkeys and have souls and personalities blessed by God. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is quite aware of the allure of gossip and offers important distinctions. In fact, he provides special protection to all who are victims of slander. Why is this? 

What is the difference between gossip and slander? When does gossip cross the line?

“What a big brain we have for all the small talk we make.” ~Robin Dunbar

Gossip. We all do it, whether we’re a girl or a boy, a teenager or an adult, intelligent or…not. But for the love of all that is good and holy, why? Well, according to psychologist Robin Dunbar, “language [gossip] in fact evolved in response to our need to keep up to date with friends and family.” Gossip is to humans like grooming is to monkeys. In other words, when we gossip, we’re connecting with our inner pick-bugs-off-each-other monkey.

Why do we we gossip?

We hope you learned at Fontbonne Forum 2007 that all gossip, although contrary to popular belief, is not bad. Rather, it is when gossip crosses the line from innocent and factual to slanderous and speculative that we need to be wary of our words. GARD, the acronym presented by the panel, offers some suggestions and guidelines as to how to gossip without being hurtful.

When is gossip artful storytelling? When is gossip spiritually destructive?