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