In James 3:6 we read: "It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell."
This is very evident in the story of four Denver newspaper reporters. The four men met at Denver's Union Station where each were waiting in hopes of spotting someone of prominence who could become a subject for a news story. Seeing no celebrities and frustrated with no story in sight and deadlines due, the men agreed to concoct a false story.
The four reporters concocted a story in which the Chinese planned to demolish the Great Wall, constructing a road in its place, and were taking bids from American companies for the project.
The next day, all four major Denver newspapers, the Times, Post, Republican and Rocky Mountain News featured the fabricated tale on the front page.
Two weeks after the Denver headlines, John Lewis had noticed a large Eastern U.S. newspaper had picked up the story and included information not even in the original story. This newspaper included quotes from a Chinese mandarin confirming the story, with illustrations and comments about the tearing down of the wall. Eventually the story spread to newspapers all across the country and then into Europe. Although the story underwent different versions, the essence remained: the United States was sending an expedition to tear down the Great Wall of China.
It is also speculated that this event helped to fuel the Boxer Rebellion, an anti-foreigner uprising in which hundreds of foreigners, missionaries and Chinese Christians were killed.
Some good questions to ask yourself before speaking or writing (taken from the Rotary Club mission statement) are:
Is it the TRUTH?
Is it FAIR to all concerned?
Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
