Uhmmmm

[joeb]

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Leviticus 19:16 Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people:....

Quote:

Proverbs 18:8 The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.

Quote:

Proverbs 26:20 Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth.

Quote:

Galations 6:1 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.

2 Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

[Gail]

The awful thing about talebearing is that it colours the hearer's opinion of the person being talked about, without having the person there to defend her/himself.

And the opinion is formed on hearsay and may not even be true.

[olger]

Amen !!

[joeb]

The awful thing about talebearing is that it colours the hearer's opinion of the person being talked about, without having the person there to defend her/himself.

And the opinion is formed on hearsay and may not even be true.

Even if the story is true, and you have a lot of evidence to show that it is, talebearing is very destructive to the person identified in the tale, as well as to the character of the talebearer himself/herself.

Now, if a story is told so others can be helped/encouraged by the results of the story, and the perps cannot be personally identified so that they cannot be personally smirched, I don't count that as tale bearing. But when a person is identified by name, and then the tale is told so others can can know about the fault, mistake, character flaw, or whatever, then it's talebearing.

[Tallmark]

I'd still like to know if someone is a bad employee or a crook before I do business with him/her. I'd like to know, and I'm sure others would like to know.

[Naomi]

Even if you hear the story of a person's past behavior can you be sure you really know if the person is a crook or bad employee? Even in our highest courts it is difficult to determine the truth. A person's reputation is valuable and when damaged by partial truths can have an adverse effect on their personal and financial future. Before sharing or taking someone's word for a misdeed pray, it would be adviseable to proceed carefully in them there waters.

[olger]

I reckon I like that, Miss Naomi.

g

[Naomi]

:)

[Gordon1]

The awful thing about talebearing is that it colours the hearer's opinion of the person being talked about, without having the person there to defend her/himself.

And the opinion is formed on hearsay and may not even be true.

One is reminded of the smear campaign against the faithful church worker M.L. Andreasen.

[olger]

s'true

g

[Enabled]

Quote:

One is reminded of the smear campaign against the faithful church worker M.L. Andreasen.

Also believed by many to have caused his death!

[Gordon1]

Quote:

One is reminded of the smear campaign against the faithful church worker M.L. Andreasen.

Also believed by many to have caused his death!

Very likely. As I recall he served the church his whole career, visited E.G. White as a young man, his life wrapped up in Adventism. But when he questioned doctrinal changes by the General Conference, he was shunned by all he worked with. I believe he was fired, lost his pension, & may even have been disfellowshipped. A sad & tragic end for an honest man.

It must have crushed him. This of course by design, and a warning to others.

E.G. White identified this mindset as "rule or ruin".

It's also a reminder of the more recent (1990s) dismissal of David Dennis, ousted as chief of Auditing Services at the G.C. for reporting financial impropriety.

[joeb]

I'd still like to know if someone is a bad employee or a crook before I do business with him/her. I'd like to know, and I'm sure others would like to know.

And you think if someone badmouths another person he/she has to be telling the truth? Give me a break. You're just as apt to get lied to about someone as you are to be told the truth about them, as there are a lot of people out there who love to practice character assassination.

I've had character assassination practiced against me too many times to ignore the practice. Every time it was done, it was done by SDAs. And every time it was to keep me from getting a really good job.

One time I worked for a church-run business. I was one of 3 people in line for a promotion to foreman over the power house for that operation. I also ran across a possibility to move on to another employer at a raise of more than $1000/month more than I would have made as foreman, and with benefits that far outdistanced what was available where I worked.

The selection process for the new job came down to me and one other person and at that point the new employer asked to speak to my current foreman. So, I gave him my current foreman's phone number. I waited a couple of days and called the prospective employer again. The man literally screamed at me over the phone and said never to call him again.

I'd been blackballed by someone I'd worked for for several years. I never did find out exactly what my foreman told the guy, but whatever it was it was really bad. How it could have been the truth is way beyond me. How was I in line to become a foreman and good enough to work there for several years if I was so bad that when the prospective employer heard about me he was enraged that I would even have the gall to speak to him again?

So, don't even begin to think you're going to always hear the truth about someone when you're asking someone to tell you about a prospective employee or business associate.

In your place, I would place much more reliance upon prayer and the ability that comes from the Holy Spirit that allows me to read character than I would the tales that come from the lips of fallen human beings.