Shoot a man with a gun and only his body is killed by the bullet.  The shot is a single event…it happens once.

Then it’s over.  But the deadliest force of a society has never been the gun.  In this contest, the gun is an “also ran”.
To kill you while you live, your enemy applies the first most lethal force…words.  A gun works by itself, but words
may have many willing accomplices lying in wait along the road.  Your enemies and opponents are ready and waiting
to kill your reputation and clobber your character for their own gain.
Isn’t it ironic?  Both the good and the evil of words can affect people for a very long time.  Do you remember a nice thing said to you as a child?  How does the memory of those words make you feel now…many years after the event?
What are word crimes?  They’re unkind words.  Words of anger, malice, envy, bitterness, brutal criticism, gossip, and of
course the big two…lying and scandal.
Common crimes, theft, assault, murder, etc. are terrible when they happen.  They cause a lot of pain and anguish for the
victims and the people who love them.  Yet each year the hurt and distress caused by common crimes is dwarfed when
compared with the emotional trauma caused by word crimes.
In the case of a robbery or an assult, usually only a few people suffer, even indirectly.  But haven’t we all been hurt by the careless words of a friend, or the harsh words of an enemy?  No one is immune from the pain words of spite cause; especially when uttered by some close friend, family member, or someone we respect.
Hope you’re ready for this.   There are people who are secretly envious of you.  Yes YOU.  Really.  They’re jealous of your success, your possessions, or your problem free life (if they only knew…).  They’ll assault you with insinuations, slurs, half-truths in order to destroy your reputation in order to make them feel superior. ..for a while.  Then they need another victim to feed on.
For some people, it’s an aquired habit – a state of mind they picked up at one time in their life.  Sometimes they don’t even realize they’re doing it, but sometimes, they know exactly what they’re doing.  The result reminds me of parasites who quietly, but certainly drain the life from their victim.
Their methods are cowardly.  It’s like poisoning someone a little but at a time.  Each individual act is seemingly insignificant.  Their victim isn’t paying close attention or on guard against them.  Soon enough, the fatal effect of the poison takes hold and it’s too late.
Remember Gulliver’s Travels, where Gulliver wound up trapped by dozens of tiny ropes?  The cumulitive effect does the real damage.  The effect of small digs and insinuations work this way.
More on Word Crimes in the next post.