Thursday, December 8, 2011

WWJD?

I have a bumper sticker on my car that poses the question, "Who Would Jesus Bomb?" It’s an obvious rip-off of the “What Would Jesus Do?” bumper stickers that were popular a few years back. 

Several people have told me, although they personally love my bumper sticker, I should be careful where I drive because other people might be offend and get angry or violent. I can't figure out what group of people would be offended by this. Would it be Conservatives or Independents or Liberals? Would it be Christians, Jews or Atheists?

Regardless of your political or religious views, there is historical evidence that Jesus actually did exist on this earth. And it’s universally agreed that the underlying core to everything he taught was “Love your fellow human beings.”

So it seems to me that the answer to my bumper sticker question, "Who Would Jesus Bomb" is, “no one.” He instructed, “Love your enemies…” he didn’t say anything about bombing them, or attacking them in any other way.

The idea of the “What Would Jesus Do?” movement was to motivate Christians to try to live their lives more like Jesus. Regardless of your religious beliefs his principle of “Love one another.” is a lofty pursuit, and my belief is that if we all strove to do that, the world would be a better place. 

How do we show someone that we love them? 

I don’t think it matters who you’re talking about, your significant other, your own child or a complete stranger, I think if we were to make a list of all the things we could do to show our love, right at the top of that list would be to treat them with dignity and respect. 

How could we demonstrate our respect? 

Maybe by treating those we come in contact with (son, daughter, spouse, or stranger) like we are all on the same level. Treat them like an equal.

Now let’s talk about Gay Rights.

I find it appalling when “Christian” Politicians thump the Bible and say that “the Gays” shouldn’t serve in the military and then state that God doesn’t want Gay couples to marry. My question to them is, “Who are you to claim to know the mind of God?”

If you believe that Jesus talked about “Love” as the most important thing, then how is it that you can justify discrimination against your fellow human beings as an appropriate response? Treating them as less than you could not be considered “Love.”

The Bible says, “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” It seems to me that the greatest way to show your love towards your fellow human beings is by giving them all the same rights that you would want for yourself. 

These folks claim that “the homosexual act” is an abomination. Maybe it is, I don’t know, but I do know that the bible says:

Judge not lest ye be judged. Deal with the log in your own eye before you deal with the speck in your neighbor’s eye. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

If the homosexual lifestyle is an abomination to God, let Him deal with those folks.

My message to the politicians:
“It’s not up to you to deal with them.
It is your job to make sure that all of your constituents have equal rights and opportunities under the law.”

And my final question:
"What Would Jesus Do?"