Gladys Kravitz Must Die!!!!!

I will admit, I am showing my age on this one.  Gladys Kravitz.  Wife of Abner Kravitz on the old sitcom Bewitched.  She always had her nose at the window, peeking through the curtains, spying on what they neighbors were doing. Her husband, was largely disinterested in her ravings as she screamed "Abner, Abner!!"  every time something funny or weird happened.  He was always sorry he listened.  Mrs. Kravitz evidently had many many children who shared her predilection for  gossip, because Lord knows they are forever screaming for our attention!!  Social media has given her a megaphone.  No tall tale seems to be too much.  It is telling that sites such as Snopes has become a full time thing to separate the truth from the lies. 

There are different types of Gladys Kravitzes our there.  There are the religious watchdogs who are just sure Pope Francis (or whoever is the Pope at the time) is saying exactly what the secular press says he is saying.  They show all the discernment of a hungry dog in a dumpster.  They are quick to post all kinds of things, make sweeping generalizations about things they don't like (yes, clown masses are of course what every single Novus Ordo Mass does), and are quicker than warp speed (right to ludicrous speed) to make condemnations.  Heaven forfend any of them actually look at original texts!  NO NO NO!!!  Abner, Abner!!! Pope Francis just said  women can dance the Watusi on the pulpit during Mass!!!  The AP says so!  *sigh*  At the least they are indulging in detraction, at worst they are indulging in calumny...both of which are sinful.

Then you have the political Gladys Kravitzes.  They posts all kinds of slanderous things about candidates they don't like from websites that make Pravda (back in the old USSR days) look like reputable reporting.  Of course just as questionable propaganda pieces in favor of their candidate are spoken of with the reverence of a canonization ceremony.  Outlandish doesn't even begin to describe the gossip; evidently slander is fair game in politics.  We wonder why we get the quality individuals we get?  By the way...I really hate politics.

Then you have the Gladys Kravitzes who wile away on the latest exploits of their favorite stars, athletes, singers, and such. Entire networks are dedicated to this (even you ESPN).  I really could go for the rest of my life without hearing the latest sexual exploits, boneheaded decisions, or catfights brewing.  It is none of my business.  Really it isn't.  Neither are the personal passive aggressive attacks that are a mainstay on sites like Facebook. 

The whole sordid process has fueled the abnormal as normal motif.  It is depressing.  It has no place in any person's life who calls themselves a Christian.  We are supposed to better than this because we are to love.  Exposing another person's faults, real or perceived, as entertainment ( a virtual Thunderdome) is sinful.  Period.  If someone has done wrong, pray for them!  Because a person is a public figure does not make it fair game in some blood sport where I prop myself up by making others look bad.   So please, for the love and survival of western civilization, please let us put the nonsense to rest and regulate the Mrs Kravitzes to the old sitcom world where she originally was.