Keep it to yourself: Is there an upside to gossip?
Like W. C. Fields and most Christians, I spend a good deal of time reading the Bible, looking for loopholes. Recently, I focused on getting off the hook with respect to the sin of gossip. I was moved to do this after reading two New York Times articles on the subject on the same day (August 16), and after listening to all levels of the church debate how seriously to take the Pauline (and deutero-Pauline) writings on homosexuality.