Gossip is Bad

From Wiki, probably from a learned source before that:

"Lashon hara (Hebrew לשון הרע; "evil tongue," also transliterated as loshon hora) is the Jewish sin of gossip. Lashon hara generally refers to true statements, written or spoken, although untrue gossip is also prohibited. Thus, while truth is generally a defense against slander or libel, it is not a defense against lashon hara.

The main prohibition against lashon hara is derived from Leviticus 19:16 [1] : "Do not go as a gossiper amongst your people". The Talmud (tractate Erchin 15b) lists lashon hara as one of the causes of the Biblical malady of tzaraath. In Sotah 42a, the Talmud states that habitual speakers of lashon hara are not tolerated in God's presence."

Gossip is a poison that destroys respect, credibility and friendship. We know it, yet are weak and lazy, too willing to go along with slander and libel because it makes us cool. So we get the ultimate dirt on someone, the scoop before anyone else; how does trashing someone else improve us? It actually can't. It only destroys.

I'm trying so hard to disengage from the world of gossip. It isn't easy: I click on Gawker dozens of times a day, out of habit. I buy US Weekly and watch entertainment news shows, instead of reading or watching something worthwhile. And it all makes me feel depressed, embarassed and dirty. Why do I do it? Hell if I know. I write about cars for a living, don't follow fashion trends, and really don't give a flying fuck about celebrities. It doesn't make sense.

But I know — as much as I know anything — that lashon hara is a very bad thing and will bring nothing of value to my life.

So, I am going on a gossip diet. No Gawker, no Eonline, no US Weekly, no EXTRA or ET, no Jossip, no Defamer, no...Jalopnik. That'll be the hardest to give up. Sure, it's about cars — it's still gossip.

Take a look at the stuff you read, watch and listen to every day: how much of it is gossip? How much of your conversations is given to repeating the gossip you read, watched and heard? Does it bother you?