Entry 26 – What Would Beck Do (WWBD)? Really?
A story that appeared today in my news reader prompted a short comment that I thought I would share. The story comes from the Examiner and is written by Laurel Davis.
Full comment is as follows:
It’s completely legitimate to ask, at what point do you call one person’s interpretation of a ‘sacred text’ (i.e. Christian Bible, Jewish Talmud, Muslim Koran, etc.) wrong. These ‘sacred’ texts were all snapshots of what people, yes people, just like you and me, thought at the time was important to write down.
Nothing more, nothing less.
And people today can, and very much do, interpret these texts in a multitude of ways.
To ask yourself what Jesus would do in this situation I believe is cutting yourself quite short in terms of being able to socially act justfully.
Jesus, if Jesus really is the Jesus that is portrayed in the Gospels and Paul’s letters, really wasn’t all too concerned about trying to make this world that we live in a great place. He was focused on an after-life life, told his disciples to ditch their families and lose all their possessions, and preached that he didn’t come to bring peace to the world, but a sword.
What really matters is what YOU think about what should be done.
Looking to a text that was written centuries ago to find out what you should do with your life now is in my humble opinion a monumental waste of time.
Getting about to helping bring about change in your local community is much more of a valuable activity; helping that tough neighborhood become a place people want to stop AT instead of drive THROUGH, as one example.
It’s really just that simple.
Blowhards like Beck just spew nonsense and non sequiturs to get ratings for their shows.
Nothing more, nothing less.
Thanks for stopping by,
TRC
The Recovering Christian 
This post reminded me of an interview Terri Gross did recently with an ex-theist, turned Bible scholar who wrote a book about the many conflicting accounts of Jesus in the Gospels. I would link to it if I could, but you can find it on the Fresh Air site. Didn’t get to listen to the whole thing, but it sounded interesting, and certainly adds another wrinkle to the WWJD question. First, I guess you would have to clarify which Jesus you’re talking about. And once you realize that you’re picking the character, the question becomes pretty meaningless (tantamount to: what would I do?).