Talk:What would Jesus do?

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It's also an acronym for "walk with Jesus daily", or something!

"On Wikipedia it can be read as, "What would Jimbo Do?" "

WTF? Is this a Wikipedian inner joke? Does anyone knows what does it actually mean? As it stands now, I think it isn't encyclopedic at all and I'm removing it. Feel free to revert it, but please explain it a bit further in orther to explain how Jimbo doings are relevants to wikipedians. Diego Moya

• Jimbo, or Jimmy Wales is the founder of wikipedia.-ZD 67.83.48.21 01:02, 8 March 2006 (UTC)

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Is the Brian Boitano bit useful in the longer form? It doesn't contain any more information than the short version - David Gerard 17:31, Feb 15, 2004 (UTC)

It contains an extra link. It contains information that BB is a US figure skater. It contains information that the replacement was meant to be humorous. It contains information that BB is treated as a role model for all situations.

That he's a US figure skater isn't relevant to WWJD; you might as well include the BB article in full.

That he's a semi-famous figure in the US is relevant. -anthony

I am less than convinced. I remain open to persuasion, of course. - David Gerard 00:39, Feb 16, 2004 (UTC)

I'd argue that it is useful to explain who Brian Boitano is. Without this context, it isn't entirely clear why the song from South Park is parody. I don't believe that Boitano is terrifically well-known outside of the United States (certainly I hadn't heard of him before the South Park movie), so a few lines of explanation as to why this is a parody wouldn't go amiss. At present, the final sentence of the article reads like a non sequitur. - MykReeve 01:17, 16 Feb 2004 (UTC)

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"Non-Christians sometimes use the phrase to show admiration for the peace-loving and kind nature that Jesus is considered to have had."

Does anyone have enough examples that would even justify a "sometimes"? This reads like wishful thinking from advocates - David Gerard 17:42, Feb 16, 2004 (UTC)

I was thinking about changing to to "Non-christians sometimes use the phrase rhetorically to point out the hypocrisy of some christians", but I couldn't figure out a better way to phrase it :).

I would like to point out that non-Christians often *do* use the phrase to call Christians on hypocritical actions and to return to a more "authentic", genuine expression of Christian doctrines of universal love and moral responsibility. WWJD has been used by gay-rights activists both Christian and non-Christian, for example, to counter conservative Christian gay-rights opponents. It's hard to say whether this usage is sincere or ironic -- probably a little of both, since it is turning the phrase against the ideological groups that use it more often, but often does seem born of a genuine belief in and desire to encourage "the good parts" of Christian ideals. Also, I would note that many people who now use "What Would Jesus Drive?" use it as part of an anti-SUV campaign that started a while ago, which is not truly a satirical context.

I'm also interested in the fact that this article goes into almost no detail at all about the origins of the phrase -- it certainly didn't pop up out of thin air in the 1990s, and had been part of Christian literature with the publishing of In His Steps way back when. That at least deserves a mention.

So mention it! - David Gerard 10:55, Mar 12, 2004 (UTC)

It is relevant that, at least from my POV, the article spends much more time on the ways the phrase has been parodied and even has a link that's purely about one particular parody of the phrase and little about the phrase in its original context. I'd like to see the Brian Boitano bit go and be replaced with info on the Methodist origins of the phrase, etc.

Contents 1 Category:Charismatic and Pentecostal Topics 2 Evangelical vs evangelicalism 3 Origin of the Accessories 4 Gary Willis book 5 Category 6 Parody/Alternatives

[edit] Category:Charismatic and Pentecostal Topics

So, does this belong in Category:Charismatic and Pentecostal Topics or not? Why or why not? Quadell (talk) 16:28, Sep 14, 2004 (UTC)

Hey! Talk about WWJDD John Daly or Johnny Damon

[edit] Evangelical vs evangelicalism

While the Wikipedia entry is 'evangelicalism' that term is almost never used in everday speech. The compromise is to use the common 'evangelical' while linking to evangelicalism. Samw 03:06, 22 September 2005 (UTC)

• Thank you, I agree 'evangelicalism' is uncommon usage, but since it is what is intended by 'evangelical' here, we can avoid linking to a disambiguation page. BonsaiViking 03:14, 22 September 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Origin of the Accessories

I have a feeling we're going to get into a battle of "who invented 'WWJD?'" here. A profile in this past Sunday's The Grand Rapids Press credits Dan Seaborn, a Wesleyan pastor in Holland MI with starting it in 1988. (He's the person I was referring to in my edit.) And the Lesco Pathway web site[1] (one of the companies that helped popularize the bracelets) credits a particular Reformed congregation in Holland in 1989. Based on the dates, I'm inclined to credit Seaborn (though he made buttons, not bracelets), but I suspect the "what would Jesus do" idea was generally buzzing around town in the late 80s (the teenagers at these various churches all went to the same couple of high schools), and I doubt we'll ever really know who first came up with the notion of wearing the initials as a reminder and promoting that beyond their personal circle. That's why I left the originator unnamed. Tverbeek 01:02, 15 November 2005 (UTC)

That's fine. Probably doesn't warrant crediting both (although certainly the bracelets took off quite a bit more). Without any reference and so generic in the prev text, I thought it was worth editing to include the documented (though biased towards the Lutheran) story I knew. -Jcbarr 01:13, 15 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Gary Willis book

Moved from User talk:Samw: Thanks, Sam. When I made the addition, I wasn't particularly comfortable with the "parody" designation, but the other sections didn't seem applicable either. ronels 05:08, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

I agree the current location in history is awkward too. We could start a new section on "Impacts" and even make "accessories" a subsection under that. Be bold and change it! Samw 01:00, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Category

I believe this article is not appropriate for the "Fashion" category it keeps getting placed under. "The term fashion applies to changing and developing social and cultural interest in a range of topics such as music, film, clothing, architecture." This phrase does not have enough weight to be listed under such a broad and defined category as Fashion and categories such as "Slogans" and perhaps even "1990s fads" (which I am putting it under) are more suitable. --Ethii 01:43, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Parody/Alternatives

Might it be better to change this section into a bullet list? -- 217.42.3.37 13:16, 8 September 2006 (UTC)

You forgot about WWAPD (what would a pirate do) from the gospel of the flying spaghetti monster under parodies, just wanted to point that out205.235.56.2 19:10, 3 January 2007 (UTC)