Speak not evil one of another, brethren… There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?
James 4:11-12
All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.
Galileo
Bustednuckles
Documenting The Death Of America
Most of us have heard, If you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything. That colloquialism fairly summarizes these verses in James.
We are not to speak evil for petty reasons. It would be better to hold our tongues.
(Many use ‘unkind’ or ‘not nice’. They do not prefer the word evil, but that is the accurate translation in the verse.)
But there is a right purpose for speaking evil. That purpose is to uphold the law. It is just to speak evil of another when the purpose is not to satisfy ourselves, but to uphold justice.
We are bound to love as much as we are bound to law and justice.