Question Details	Asked By	Asked On
Snitching	excon	07/09/05
Hello Christians: Snitching - tattling - ratting - kissing and telling, buring your sources, etc. What is the Christian/moral stand on the subject? Why? Do you keep secrets? Would you go to jail to keep a secret? Is it good or bad to do so? What do you teach your kids? If it's good, why are all the terms describing one who does so, so reviling? If it's good, we should call it kissing or loving. excon
Clarification/Follow-up by excon on 07/10/05 8:15 am: Hello again, Christians: Ok, I got it. Saving a life or property is not snitching. I really didn't think it was. But you people seem to waffell quite a bit. But, my question was about snitching, per se. The real ugly kind. Do you tell the teacher when you saw somebody cheating on a test? Do you call the cops if you see a neighbor smoking dope. Do you rat out your accomplice to save yourself from....... Do you teach your children that informing on people is good or is it bad? What is it? I'm clear on my position. Are you clear on yours? excon
Answered By		Answered On
madima		07/10/05
Hi excon, I'm an active member of the working press in my country at present, so I can more realistically answer from the journalistic point of view. I will go to jail to protect a good source. I have never disclosed the true identities of any of my news sources throughout my career. Oh, there were many times people tried to tempt me or bribe me. And there were those few news sources who tried to burn me with false info. But a good news source will risk to have his/her head on the chopping block for you... Of course, their motives could also be open to question. Some will "tell" with genuine honesty and idealism, but some will tell to exploit, to manipulate, or out of spite to their superiors or the system. As journalists, we are told to deal with facts, not with the motives of the sources. When the facts given by the sources are verifiable truths, then they are published and the source protected. From the Christian and the personal viewpoint, the demarcation lines can be blurry. But definitely, I don't protect liars :=)

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