Roaming in the writing utensils isle of the Hornet Bookstore, I found a man standing near my favorite pens. Then I spotted him grab a handful and slide them into his pocket. As I took a closer look, I noticed a bracelet on his wrist that read “WWJD?” It became quite ironic as I have learned it meant: What Would Jesus Do?

If Jesus were around today, do you really think he would roam around passing out bracelets for people to remember him? Did Jesus himself walk around with a bracelet provoking the question, “What Would I Do?”

At any major University, including our lovely cesspool here at Sac State, you’ll most likely find someone with a t-shirt saying they’ve been to some crusade, or some random piece of advice pulled out from the bible, or even the ever-popular stolen catch phrase, “Got Jesus?”

What is wrong with Christians these days? It seems to me as if this new and young generation of Christian students have turned it into a fad. So if you had considered being a Christian before but thought people might laugh at you; don’t worry because it’s quite ‘in’. Its level of popularity has heightened and spread unto capitalistic America. The problem is; Jesus never set out on his ministry to make a profit.

At the Hornet Bookstore, you’ll find a book labeled “What Would Jesus Eat?” by Colbert. A Christian cookbook-it’s disgusting! Most Christian bookstores have entire walls dedicated to t-shirts harping on other religions. Entire shelves made especially for bookmarkers, pens and pencils with little fish on them; bumper stickers with Darwin-eating fish. Not to mention “God Bless America” stickers. And in case any one forgot, Jesus was born in Bethlehem, a small town in the Middle East. So technically, Jesus is Middle Eastern. Fortunately, God doesn’t care about national boundaries, nor any boundaries. He is the God of the Universe.

Here’s another question; since when did wearing a cross around your neck mean anything? As you can tell today, anyone who’s anyone wears a cross. Some even 1/4 inch thick made with 24k gold. This proves only the fact that they can afford something that would pay for 100 homeless peoples’ meals.

Wearing a t-shirt, slapping the WWJD on the wrist, pasting the fish on the back of a car, or wearing the cross does not prove that someone is anymore Christian. Some say, they “aren’t proving anything.” However, you are still being judged. When people see Allen Iverson tearing up the hoops wearing his fancy bracelet reading WWJD, some Christians will put him in the ‘in-crowd’; then all the sudden he’s everyone’s favorite player. For perhaps a more back-home example, try Jason Williams when he played for the Kings. He wore the bracelet, yet the dude was always getting in trouble. However, that’s not to say that Jesus can’t save a troublemaker, so let’s try another example.

Every year the same campus roadies visit Sac State for an afternoon holding up signs saying, “You’re all sinners and going to Hell!” “Read your Bibles!” “Abortion, sex, drugs, rock and roll, masturbation, pornography, piercings, even ‘non-christian tatoos’ are of Satan!” I mean; we’re talking razor sharp straight-edge idiots! This pisses off even the Christians on campus.

“If they were actually reading their bible, then they would understand that he spent all his time with prostitutes and outcasts and the only people that he really got angry at were the Christians that thought they already knew everything. It’s a poor representation of who Jesus is,” says Kyle Dickinson, a member of a well-established Christian organization on campus.

However, they’re Christians just as much as those who wear the cross. They’re just going about their evangelism in a slightly more unorthodox approach. I wouldn’t even call it evangelism, but this is the idea people walk away with.

From old and boring hymns that drove people out of the church to today’s pop-Christian-culture, humans are still trying to get themselves into the best light possible while avoiding scrutiny from their peers. The best Christian t-shirt that I have ever seen to this day is the one by a Christian artist, Justin McRoberts reading; “They will know we’re Christians by our t-shirts.”