IV.
We mentioned in the above section that backbiting is an evil that is hard to heal. The Holy Spirit declares, "A man who has the habit of abusive language will never mature in character as long as he lives." (19) When we are in the act of backbiting others, would we want to admit we are backbiting? A sick person who thinks he is well refuses to believe anyone who tells him he is sick and he scorns every remedy. So it is with wounds caused by backbiting. They are healed only with great difficulty; and though they may have been bandaged, they always leave a dreadful scar. Alexander the Great's laudator used to say, "If you have an enemy, attack him vigorously with insults. He may be able to bandage his wounds, but a scar will always remain." Thieves speak the same language: "Steal boldly. If you are obliged to pay it back it will never be everything."
(19) Sir 23:20.

It is remarkable how hard it is for someone to rid himself of an error once it has lodged in his mind. A few words murmured in lowered tones pierce it like a nail driven into a piece of wood; try and pull it out, all your strength will hardly suffice. Once you penetrate someone's mind with a false opinion, you will have a hard time changing it. In vain will you repeat a hundred times, "I was angry when I said that. I spoke thoughtlessly. Jealousy made me talk that way." No matter what you say, the first opinion is imbedded too deeply for you to be able to pull it out in one try.

Serpents provide serum against snakebite; scorpions provide oil against the scorpion's sting; dog hair acts against dogbite. But people wounded by a backbiter's tongue can heal only with great difficulty, and always imperfectly, even though it be the very tongue which caused the wounds that tries to repair them, as Achilles' lance healed Telephos, whom he had wounded.

Saint John Chrysostom paints an eloquent picture of the evils of backbiting. "What is the use of sparing birds and fishes if we eat our own brothers?" he says. Indeed, the backbiter rips his brother's flesh with his teeth and tears his neighbor's body to shreds. That is what Saint Paul wants to frighten us from when he says, "If you bite and devour one another, take heed or you will be consumed by one another." (20)
(20) Gal 5:15

And to keep us from sidestepping this admonition, Saint John Chrysostom adds, "Do not tell me, 'I would be a slanderer only if I lied. I am committing no slander if I tell the truth.' Error! Speaking evil of others, even if the evil be true, is always a crime. Surely the publican was really a publican and a sinner; but he left cleansed of all his defilements because he was scorned by the Pharisee. You want to correct your brother? Weep, pray to God, warn him by speaking to his heart, advise and exhort him. That is how Saint Paul acted. 'But backbiting is so sweet!' you say. Yes, but not backbiting is sweeter still. The backbiter creates deadly anxiety for himself, he is constantly besieged by suspicion and fear. He repents, but too late; he bites his tongue, but in vain; he trembles, for as his words spread, they may cause him grave danger and expose those who repeat them to enmities which so easily could have been avoided." (21)
(21) Saint John Chrysostom, Homily 3, Ad pop Antioch.
Therefore, let us eliminate every sort of backbiting, knowing full well that were we to eat ashes, all our austerities would be useless to us if we linger in this vice.