Slander
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Hosts
Corey J. Mahler
Once taken, a man’s reputation is nearly impossible to restore to him. In the 8th Commandment (and many other places in Scripture), God enshrines and makes abundantly clear that He hates slander and the man who spreads it. And yet Scripture goes further: Not only must we not slander our neighbor, but we must rebuke the one who does so. Scripture calls the one who hears slander but does not rebuke the slanderer evil.
Next to his life, wife, and possessions, the most dear thing a neighbor has is his good name and reputation. As Christians, we know that we must aid our neighbor in maintaining all that is his, and this certainly includes his reputation. Slander destroys families, friendships, organizations, churches, and entire societies. A godly prince would wield the sword against the slanderer, but every individual Christian has a moral duty to rebuke the slanderer and not to repeat what he has heard.
In this episode, we will examine the contours of what “slander” encompasses, and what we, as Christians, must do in this life.
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This is a pretty truthful episode of the gossip we face daily. Is there any chance you guys would make a discussion on the issue of freedom of speech?
We do have it on the list.
Freedom of speech tends to be self defeating. If I have freedom of speech, I have the freedom to propose restrictions on speech. If my propositions become popular in a democracy, there goes your freedom
‘Democracy is two wolves and one sheep voting on what is for dinner.’
Great topic! It’s terrible to realize how prevalent slander is.
A couple of questions: when would it be appropriate or not slanderous to share information (secret) about your neighbor? A crime? A crime against a child? Someone at risk to repeat a crime?
It’s not too difficult to recognize explicit slander. (Although still not enough people intervene when the slander is obvious.) When someone comes in and says, “Did you hear what I heard?” is considerably easier to tell someone to not continue. But Satan is a master manipulator. I shamefully acted after someone shared slander with me, but they started, “I am so worried about So&So. What should we do about xxxx?” “This person is being led astray because he did xxxx.”
Basically anytime you deal with a narcissist type personality, one should be wary of any information he shares.
My family has also become victims of slander from our beloved church. When it was just me, I believed people would see my and my actions and know the lies being spread were not true. Instead, the attacks escalated.
One can know that Satan is everywhere, but it is so hard once you realize your enemy has embodied the souls of those you have trusted with your children, your spiritual guidance, and distributor of the sacraments.
Crime is a matter for the magistrate and should reasonably be reported (at the very least serious crimes). Many of these matters are going to require wisdom calls — there is simply no way to avoid that reality.
Appreciate you guys and sorry that so many have slandered you. Keep up the good work.
Thank you.