Women really struggle with gossip. Why is that? I truly think this is one of THE most difficult sins to guard against for us.
And it’s different for adults, at least for me. Maybe that’s because most of the people I know are married and fairly happy. There’s none of the “he dumped her for WHO?” that we all got into in high school. Most of what I struggle with is celebrity gossip. I don’t know why this stuff so fascinates me, but I really don’t think it’s something I should be filling my head with.
Now, I guess there’s a fine line between knowing what is going on with the world and in lusting after dirt on famous people. It’s one thing to know that Paris Hilton went to jail. It’s another thing to sit refreshing the TMZ website all afternoon on the day she went there (Yes, I did this).
I guess maybe we are jealous of fame and fortune on some level, and so it gives us some satisfaction to see someone knocked down a peg or two? Maybe that makes them seem more normal? Maybe we are just fascinated by the glitter? I mean, I don’t know anyone who regularly jets off to Tahiti on a private plane or spends nights clubbing in NYC on a normal Saturday night (without waiting behind the velvet rope, of course).
I continue to ponder why we care so much about the private lives of people we’ve never met and probably never will. I’m sure this isn’t what Proverbs 31 meant by not eating the bread of idleness, not to mention being of noble character.
Rachael - Rae_anna46 | 24-Aug-07 at 9:01 am | Permalink
This is so very true for me. I struggle daily with wanting to fill up on celebrity gossip and enjoying it, yet knowing it is not beneficial for my spiritual life.
I think the reason that I enjoy it is that it’s fun to snark. I get sinful pleasure out of seeing what a wreck Celebrity X has made out of their life. And that’s wrong.
Now, I don’t think it’s wrong to follow positive celebrity news like who had a baby or what a star’s wedding looked like. But the snark gossip? I need to stay away from it altogether.
amy | 29-Aug-07 at 6:23 pm | Permalink
ya..i’m a total newstand junkie for celeb gossip! my favorite part of our weekly trips to target or wally world are waiting in the checkout line so i can scan the headlines of all the tabloids to see what’s happening with who. and while most of the time i refrain from purchasing them…i’ll confess that it’s happened a time or two when i knew i’d have a few minutes to myself!
i wonder if it’s just another means of escape? taking us into a fantasy world where things look pretty and amazing (well, most of the time). not unlike going to a movie or reading a fictional novel to take our minds away from whatever is going on in our reality. i don’t think that this in and of itself is detrimental..but just like any other thing..it’s how often and aggressively we find ourselves doing it that needs a check now and then.
i say read on sista…just maybe we should set a timelimit?
Emily | 30-Aug-07 at 1:45 pm | Permalink
I do think it’s an escape, it’s fun to imagine what life would be like if we had (seemingly) unlimited funds and power and “knew people.”
It’s very much like reading a novel, good observation. And of course the truth is much stranger than fiction, as they say!