Shhh! Don't tell

Secrets... From the time Eve took a bite of the apple, we have been asking for forbidden knowledge. You boys/men reading this will probably not identify with this topic because secrets are a girl thing, not playing a big part in male culture. But for women, there is enormous power in possessing a secret and in prying one out of someone else.

From the time we are young children, it is shared secrets that determine who is in and who is out of any group. Secrets mark every ritual initiation. I’ll bet anyone who was ever in a sorority or fraternity or any other selective group to this day remembers the password and the secret handshake.

Some secrets are insignificant pieces of information. However, others have the potential to ruin relationships and turn friends into enemies. Secrets can be as powerful as hand grenades.

It’s interesting that we go to great lengths to declare our intentions to keeps secrets. The stack of Bibles that have been sworn on would probably reach to the sky. There have been countless pinky swears. There has even been the exchange of blood. But often even those intentions cave in under the intense pressure of one who wants to know.

For the most part the Blogosphere is not about secrets. We generally put it all out there for public consumption. But yesterday I read the following (edited) comment on a friend’s Blog:
"I guess I'm going to have to write you privately about this because A, B and C have all cropped up in interesting ways in my life."
My immediate reaction was that I wanted to know what this person had to say. I wondered why it was privileged information, especially given the anonymity of the commenter. My friend is resolute about not passing on information vouchsafed to her by others, so it will forever remain between them. Was it wrong of me to want to know?

What’s your take on secrets? Can you be trusted to keep one? Are there situations under which you really should tell all? What are the ethics associated with secrets?