WWJD, That's the abbreviation that swept though the mostly conservative Christians a few years back. A reminder of sorts to let us know that our actions reflects our beliefs! I feel strongly about this too. As the song goes, "this little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine" the light of Christ shines through us into our lives, in how we act and what we do. "WWJD" I whispered to my Sunday school kids, saying "look at your actions, that reflects your faith". Now my favorite Gospel book is Mark, more specifically the Beatitudes . I also like the entire book of James who was one of Jesus's brothers and the first leader of this new fledgling religion that eventually became "Christianity". James is an important figure in recovery ministries and a strong message comes thought him on personal responsibility and accountability. This acronym "WWJD" could also me "What would James do"?
After James, I love the message of his younger brother whom was know as one of the two Judas's who were in the 12 disciples. He latter became known as Jude. The book of Jude is very short, yet full of the message of peace and warning of arrogance by the lust and greed in men who hide in religion to gain wealth, "trees without fruit, doubly dead and uprooted" Again we can use "WWJD" for "what would Jude do".
And then there was John, Jonah, John the Baptizer, Jacob, and Joseph father of Jesus and how about Joseph the dreamer to Pharaoh. All of these men when using the "WWJD" would have admirable, Godly traits that were surely ordained by God. So then WWJD let's say today? In a time when science was nothing more than a star appearing in a night sky announcing the birth of a King, we has humans knew very little in how our Universe worked. While Christ performed miracles, healed, feed and taught of the love and grace of God, science was, in a way at the point of conception. Now prior to and into this time, some 2000 years ago several cultures did begin a scientific discovery! Medicine, Astronomy and mathematics were deep rooted into the religious cultures of pre-Christianity. Egyptians had performed surgery's, Caesarean sections, mended broken bones and copied the placement of stars by erecting pyramids in identical configurations. Mesopotamian's discovered mathematical algorithms, structures and physics. While Incas and Mayans did the same. This cross section of Religious societies incorporated these sciences into their beliefs for millennia. Now 1970+ years after the inception of one of the longest and most successful courses in religion, some are refuting science and religion, even re-witting history and setting out to de-bunk the importance of science and it's link to religion. WWJD if he met with Darwin? "Darwin has a come to Jesus meeting"!
Long ago, I watched B&W TV of old re-runs of DRAGNET. Detectives said "just the facts". They didn't want an interpretation of what the believed they saw! They wanted, color, size, weight and what they wore. Now we have groups that say that science has no bearing when it come to doing Gods work! For example, Don't need to know the facts about yellow cake uranium, God ordained George Bush to take out an evil man! Now I'm not going to assume that I know what God wants, but I can read reports, and I'm sure that God or Jesus doesn't want us to kill for him on lies...why would he give us the Ten Commandments only to contradict himself? Contradiction is rampant in the world today and never more so then in the present Conservative Christian movement! War, killing, lying deception, coveting and just about every commandment has been held in contempt to rationalize and justify illegal actions "WWJD" (Jude, that's strange, the other Judas was a traitor to his savior)! "Fixing facts" sounds like lying too me! These all were very un-popular people, these JD's! Joseph was sold into slavery by his own brothers, John the Baptist had his head cut off, James was murdered and John was exiled. What popular thought did they have?
Now it's gotten kind of heavy with this subject, but I am going somewhere with this. Many, if not all religions mixed science within the faith. It seem that there is a present trend to dispel facts because they are inconvenient or do not fit into our understanding of our own religious convictions. Many fundamentalist refute the existence of dinosaurs, cell line mutations, the divergence of species (true Darwinism) and evolution. Text books are being re-written by religious groups lobbing efforts, carbon dating is being attacked because the world is older than 7500 years of the line of Adam! How could this be? Didn't God create the World in 6 days (No it wasn't 7, he rested on the seventh day)!
Yet Hubble sends the most magnificent pictures! Pictures named the "Eye of God" and scenes of Jesus holding stars in his hands! Awesome pictures produced by science and leading us back to faith. Full circle. God and science can co-exist, they do co-exist and have since man first gazed upon the stars! The removal of science form modern religious thought in an insult to the God that gave us free will, a drive to discover and a brain to ask "why"!
Conservative religious thought removes us from thinking logical creatures that long to ask "Why Lord" (the merging or science and religion with the two words) to accepting some ones explanation to us as too what God meant to tell us! If I need someone to tell me "WWJD", then insert their initials here "WW__".
It is not my intent to offend any of my friends or fellow Christians (or ANY other group). These are valid questions that soul always be asked as our knowledge of science expands and our logic brings us closer to a God head creator.