The belittling behaviour of backbiting

Dear friend

The scriptures contain various listings of what we should or shouldn't do so that we will be welcome in God's holy habitation. Among the "listers" was the Psalmist, David. One of his enumerations of positive and negative attributes contains an example of a "what-does-that-mean?" word. It is found in the Old Testament, Psalm 15:1-3.

1 Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill?
2 He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart.
3 He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour.

"Backbiteth" or backbiting sounded so strange to my young mind when I first came across it; and the unpleasant picture in my head made no sense either. Basically it means fault-finding, malicious gossip, making up or embellishing stories about someone, in particular "biting" into their good name or reputation ... behind their back. Originally it came from the antiquated "sport" of bear-baiting when there was an unsporting attack from the rear.

It seems like backbiting continued to be a problem at the time of the early Church. The Apostle Paul, with another list, included these items that he taught would incur the wrath of God; from the New Testament, Romans 1:30.

30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,

Backbiting is a sin in many religions; some raise it to the level of a mortal sin. The Qur'an even compares it to eating the flesh of your dead brother (and now that's another unpleasant picture in my head). Sadly this tedious tendency towards "evil speaking" seems to pervade the passages of time. In modern revelation there is this further example, from Doctrine and Covenants 20:54.

54 And see that there is no iniquity in the church, neither hardness with each other, neither lying, backbiting, nor evil speaking;

It sounds like backbiting is definitely a behaviour to banish from our being. So I hope as we consider this serious matter, that we can honestly assess our conversations and communications. I pray we will apply the Golden Rule of "do unto others ..." and treat others' reputations with the same respect we would want; especially behind their/our backs.

Samuel.