Read His Side of the Story Winer's husband, Tom Lutz, says gossip is like convicting someone without a trial . Take Beliefnet's gossip quiz . The major religions have their say. The New Morality Read about cheating, guilt, and sex in the Morality section. As a rule, most people seem to think that there's nothing morally wrong in spreading negative information about others as long as the information is true.
Jewish law takes a different view.
It's the dissemination of accurate information that will lower the status of the person to whom it refers. Jewish law forbids spreading negative truths about anyone unless the person to whom you're speaking needs the information. It's a serious offense, one that has been addressed by many non-Jewish ethicists as well. Intention has a great deal to do with the circumstances in which it's prohibited to speak negative truths. Unfortunately, this doesn't deter many people from speaking negative truths.