During the 1990s, evangelical Christians started wearing bracelets with the letters “WWJD.” The letters stand for “What Would Jesus Do?” This is supposed to serve as a reliable ethical guide for Christians. (Some skeptics have had fun with the question. Some have suggested that the letters actually represent “We Want Jack Daniels!”)
I started thinking again about this simplistic moral imperative after reading an article in USA TODAY. Titled “Immigration issues touch denominations” (March 22, 2012, P. 3A), the story dealt with the question of how Christian denominations should respond to undocumented workers in the U.S. Some claim that the Bible teaches that we should embrace strangers (Matthew, Chapter 25.) Others say that, according to Romans 13:1, “the powers that be are ordained of God,” and that everyone must obey the laws of the land—including immigration laws.
This dilemma helps to demonstrate that asking what Jesus would do is a poor way to figure out the most ethical course of action. Conservative Christians are likely to conclude that the law is the law, and that even if families are torn apart, those without legal citizenship must be removed from the country. Liberal Christians are likely to try to find ways to assure that those without legal citizenship are permitted to stay. In other words, most Christians will stake out a position and then look for biblical support.
This is not surprising. David Hume wrote that human beings determine right and wrong by sentiment, or feelings, rather than reason. Moreover, some of the latest findings in neuroscience indicate that we often only believe we are making choices when choices are being made for us. (On March 16, 2012, the Institute for Science and Human Values co-hosted a symposium on “Neuroscience and Ethics: Considering Nature, Nurture, and Norms,” with the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies. Later this year, a special issue of The Human Prospect will focus on findings and papers from the symposium.)
What Would Jesus Do about slavery? The Bible condones slavery. Luke 12:47-48 condones the beating of slaves? Would Jesus beat slaves? If so, with how many stripes? Or would Jesus condemn slavery? If so, why did he not condemn it in his day?
Would Jesus commit genocide? The Old (First) Testament condones it repeatedly. For example, in Numbers 31:17, God’s Chosen People are commanded to “kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him.” Moses, Aaron, Joshua, Gideon, and Samuel were bloodthirsty maniacs if we are to take the Bible seriously.
European conquerors followed the examples of these biblical role models. They decimated indigenous populations in the name of God, and enslaved the heathen in order to convert them to Christianity.
Would Jesus rape girls or women? The Chosen People of God were commanded to do so.
Numbers 31:18 says, “But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.” Clearly, women are regarded as the property—sexual and otherwise—of the men. However, liberal Christians oppose patriarchy and support equality of opportunity between the sexes.
What Would Jesus Do about homophobia? The Bible repeatedly condemns it. Indeed, Leviticus 20:13 says, “If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.” However, liberal Christians support the rights of LGBTQI people, including same-sex marriages.
Would Jesus welcome homosexuals, or stone them to death?
What Would Jesus Do about stem cell research? Many researchers maintain that stem cell research could lead to cures for numerous diseases. Liberal Christians support it. However, conservative Christians are worried about the soul that supposedly resides in the tiny stem cell, and oppose such research.
What Would Jesus Do about birth control and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases?
Religious liberals advocate the use of condoms to prevent unplanned pregnancies and the spread of STDs. Many religious conservatives, however, oppose all forms of contraception.
What Would Jesus Do about abortion, the death penalty, gun control, euthanasia, etc.?
Conservative and liberal Christians disagree on all of these issues, and several others. Asking what Jesus would do does not bring them to agreement.
As Sam Harris pointed out in Letter to a Christian Nation, liberal Christians are often on the right side of an issue morally, but on the wrong side biblically. This is not surprising, considering that the Bible was written thousands of years ago.
Thomas Paine pointed out that no generation has property in any other. In other words, past generations had no moral right to insist that future generations embrace all of the moral ideas of the past. Each generation has to figure out how it ought to live. They can use the past as a guide, but they should never follow it slavishly. Rather than asking what Jesus would do, we must try to pursue the best ethical courses of action based on the expected consequences to individuals and society.
What Would Jesus Do? (Does it even matter?)