What wouldn't Jesus do?
Well, he probably wouldn't steal other people's copyrighted material and then market it like some kind of consumer trinket.
Janie Tinklenberg lead a youth group in Holland Michigan. many years ago. She used some source material by Charles Sheldon, a pastor from Topeka, Kansas. One of Sheldon's ideas was to frequently ask yourself, what would Jesus do?
Tinklenberg came up with the idea of putting the initials, WWJD, on bracelets, so her students could be reminded constantly of the question. I personally think it's kind of a dumb idea myself, but that's not the point here. The point is that she came up with the idea of putting the initials "WWJD" on jewelry.
Tinklenberg's idea has been stolen by every Christian publisher and trinket manufacturer in the U.S. Not a single one of these companies has offered Tinklenberg a single red cent for her idea. (You can't copyright an actual idea, but you can copyright the expression of an idea, which is exactly what WWJD is.)
Now, you could argue that the idea of putting "WWJD" on a bracelet is neither original or elaborate enough to justify a copyright at all. You could make a good case for that. The trouble is that these publishers are themselves notorious for demanding draconian enforcement of copyright their own mediocre ideas and expressions, including all those dumb posters and bookmarks that trivialize spirituality and reduce the precepts of Jesus to cute little mindless mantras and mottos.
Do any of these companies ask themselves the very question they are selling? Do the people wearing this bracelet realize that they have been sold a bill of goods? That they sport an emblem of all that is shallow and trivial and superficial and utterly meaningless about the kind of kitsch that passes for Christian "culture" these days?
