The sin of detraction

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Tina.Kamira

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I recently found out about the sin of detraction, and I have a couple of questions about what exactly it is, or if I’m committing it 🙂
  1. from what i understand, it’s not considered detraction if it’s, say, talking about a known political/legal event, right? like if i were to say “Epstein was a pedophile.”
  2. what if you’re telling a friend about a situation you’re in, and asking them for advice? for example, telling a friend that your sister has been acting jealous and spiteful to you, and asking what you should do about it.
thank you very much 🙂
 
I’m going to say 1. is not detraction. Anyone with the internet, radio, or TV at this point knows Jeffrey Epstein is credibly accused of being a pedophile. You repeating it does not further harm his character.
  1. This one might be, if your sister’s jealous and spiteful behavior is something she does in private. Better to just work it out with her directly then tell a 3rd party. The 3rd party will only get your side of things and likely not be helpful anyway.
 
If the only issue is whether or not the person’s behavior was done in private, would it then be the sin of detraction if an abusive victim were to confide in a loved one that they were being abused?
 
I’m not a priest or theologian.

If you are being abused and need to tell someone because you need help, it is not sinful.
 
ZemD said:
Better to just work it out with her directly then tell a 3rd party. The 3rd party will only get your side of things and likely not be helpful anyway.
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See this part. I was answering your questions about your sister. If someone is being abused and needed help, that would be their justification for disclosing the sin of whomever is abusing them. Your issue with your sister does not require you to involve a third party in my opinion.
 
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What if you mention somebody else’s sin in confession as background for something you are confessing yourself? Would you be committing the additional sin of detraction while confessing?
 
Whoa I am really feeling out of my element here. I am not a preist.
I think you both should call your preist to get better advice than I can give.

In my own life I ask myself this, “is another person’s behavior absolutely necessary for me to disclose to a third party?” If yes, not a sin. If no, it’s gossip and a sin.
 
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ZemD said:
In my own life I ask myself this, “is another person’s behavior absolutely necessary for me to disclose to a third party?” If yes, not a sin. If no, it’s gossip and a sin.
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I agree with this. Especially at work, I would never volunteer disclosing the faults of some people to managers/leaders. Later they would come to me and say so and so did this and that and I’d say yes it is in their character. Then they say: why didn’t you tell me? I answer: because it is better for you to find out yourself and not from a third party.
 
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