# Trust Jesus? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 18, 2007, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trust-jesus/430496 "2007-12-18T20:35:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![blacksunshyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ce73a5/32.png) [@blacksunshyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blacksunshyn)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trust-jesus/430496/1 "2007-12-18T20:35:23Z")
So, I’ve traveled in maybe half the US states, and in every one, on some overpass, I’ve seen spray painted the words “Trust Jesus.” Fine. I can get behind that. But, it always seems to be written in the same style handwriting, one word on top of the other. And why only Trust Jesus. There are a lot of short, graffiti-worthy sayings about God you could spray paint on an overpass. I’ve seen “Jesus Saves” once or twice, but nowhere near as often. What gives? Is this a cult? Some particular denomination that took the Great Commission to refer to vandalism? ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trust-jesus/430496/2 "2007-12-18T22:36:05Z")
It used to be ‘Jesus saves’ in England, but then someone added ‘but Keegan\* nets the rebound!’. \*A former centre-forward at Liverpool football club… ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trust-jesus/430496/3 "2007-12-18T22:48:06Z")
[QUOTE=blacksunshyn] So, I’ve traveled in maybe half the US states, and in every one, on some overpass, I’ve seen spray painted the words “Trust Jesus.” Fine. I can get behind that. But, it always seems to be written in the same style handwriting, one word on top of the other. And why only Trust Jesus. There are a lot of short, graffiti-worthy sayings about God you could spray paint on an overpass. I’ve seen “Jesus Saves” once or twice, but nowhere near as often. What gives? Is this a cult? Some particular denomination that took the Great Commission to refer to vandalism? [/QUOTE] I have always taken it as a pithy proselytization, highly unlikely to be effective except to give the vandal a sense that he has discharged a duty to bring in any stray sheaves. I cannot rule out that it is **D\_r T\_\_\_s** using reverse psychology to damage the Religion. 😉 Think of it as a building tattoo for Christ. [Teach me, Dad: Image](http://teachmedad.files.wordpress.com/2006/11/trust-jesus.jpg) I never figured out why tattooees copy cheap and shabby designs, either. ---
**Author:** ![J\_Cubed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@J\_Cubed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/J_Cubed)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trust-jesus/430496/4 "2007-12-18T22:50:43Z")
Ha, my favorite band has a song about this: > **[Featured Content on Myspace](https://myspace.com/)** > > Featured Content on Myspace [http://www.slobberbone.com/lyrics\_eytwrwwt.html#trust](http://www.slobberbone.com/lyrics_eytwrwwt.html#trust) ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trust-jesus/430496/5 "2007-12-18T23:02:28Z")
You will note that those who spray paint such slogans are, in effect, defacing public property. They fail to see the irony of proselytizing in this case is to commit a violation of the secular law, as well as one of the Ten Commandments. Or are some more holier than thou? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trust-jesus/430496/6 "2007-12-18T23:50:32Z")
[QUOTE=Duckster] They fail to see the irony of proselytizing in this case is to commit a violation of the secular law, as well as one of the Ten Commandments. Or are some more holier than thou? [/QUOTE] Which of the Ten Commandments does it violate? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trust-jesus/430496/7 "2007-12-19T00:10:02Z")
[QUOTE=Captain Amazing] Which of the Ten Commandments does it violate? [/QUOTE] Perhaps he/she meant the one against idols ? ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trust-jesus/430496/8 "2007-12-19T01:37:10Z")
Many years ago I met a couple of Americans in a pub in Stratford. They had noticed the legend _Take Courage_ which featured on many hoardings thereabouts. They told me how heartened they were that we British were being urged to be brave and steadfast in the face of the many problems that life threw at us in our daily grind. I broke it to them as diplomatically as I could that Courage was and is a well known brand of beer. I don’t suppose Jesus is a particularly reliable alcoholic beverage of some kind, is it? ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trust-jesus/430496/9 "2007-12-19T02:58:35Z")
[QUOTE=Der Trihs] Perhaps he/she meant the one against idols ? [/QUOTE] Perhaps, but I was also thinking of coveting someone else’s property for your own use. ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trust-jesus/430496/10 "2007-12-19T03:44:55Z")
[QUOTE=Chez Guevara] I don’t suppose Jesus is a particularly reliable alcoholic beverage of some kind, is it? [/QUOTE] no…but is sure as hell should be. the only question is what kind of beverage. I am kinda thinking an alcoholic version of Jones sodas stuffing, because that crap would certainly get a “JESUS CHRIST WTF IS THIS CRAP” outta me if I had no warning. ---
**Author:** ![Khampelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Khampelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khampelf)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trust-jesus/430496/11 "2007-12-19T04:04:23Z")
[QUOTE=Captain Amazing] Which of the Ten Commandments does it violate? [/QUOTE] Well, to get to the good spots to spray paint, you often have to crawl through drainage ditches, and there is a commandment, I believe, that goes “Thou shalt not culvert.” ---
**Author:** ![Baraqiyal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@Baraqiyal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baraqiyal)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trust-jesus/430496/12 "2007-12-19T04:59:17Z")
The whole thing doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. It seems like _belief_ in Jesus would be a prerequisite to trusting him. If you do believe in him I think trusting him would kind of going without saying. And if you don’t believe in him, it doesn’t make sense to try to convince people to trust a fictional character. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trust-jesus/430496/13 "2007-12-19T07:27:20Z")
Apparently these graffiti were prominent in the 1980s. [See this link](http://www.positiveatheism.org/mail/eml9616.htm) > [@](#): > > When I moved to Portland in 1985, I saw TRUST JESUS written everywhere. There had been one prominent occurrence of this one on the overpass when you go from San Diego to El Cajon, which I remember as early as the mid- to late-1970s, but in Portland it was everywhere. As far as I can tell, it was the same style of writing: hand-painted block letters. People would sometimes alter these: my favorite alteration said BUST JESUS on the road back from Milwaukie. It was so prevalent that it would even show up in the background in local comic strips. > > They finally busted the guy in Portland, who had been a candidate for mayor. The local community of gay men were very prominent (and very thorough) in the clean up effort. The last one I saw, after several years of not seeing any, was about six years ago when I was riding my mountain bike. It was old enough to have been left over from the 1980s. It soon disappeared (heh heh heh!). The above was written in 2000. The implication is that the graffiti have long disappeared from his area; clearly they’re still going strong in other places. ---
**Author:** ![Jurph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/50afbb/32.png) [@Jurph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurph)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trust-jesus/430496/14 "2007-12-19T10:17:52Z")
[QUOTE=Chez Guevara] I don’t suppose Jesus is a particularly reliable alcoholic beverage of some kind, is it? [/QUOTE] I think it’s bottom-shelf whiskey. There’s a guy at my bar who always asks for a double of the stuff, downs it at a go, and then exclaims “Sweet JESUS!” ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trust-jesus/430496/15 "2007-12-19T13:49:45Z")
[QUOTE=Baraqiyal] The whole thing doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. It seems like _belief_ in Jesus would be a prerequisite to trusting him. If you do believe in him I think trusting him would kind of going without saying. And if you don’t believe in him, it doesn’t make sense to try to convince people to trust a fictional character. [/QUOTE] Quite. The vandals involved are not the brightest candles burning on the evangelization altar. ---
**Author:** ![Oregon\_sunshine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/50afbb/32.png) [@Oregon\_sunshine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oregon_sunshine)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trust-jesus/430496/16 "2007-12-19T14:14:54Z")
I used to see this graffiti all the time in my earlier travels (late 80s, Midwest) and it always seemed to be in the same handwriting. Once I saw one where someone else had written “Don’t” above and “freaks” below the graffito. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trust-jesus/430496/17 "2007-12-19T19:20:44Z")
I recall an article in _Spy_ magazine in the 1980’s about a similar phenomenon. Someone was scratching the words “Jesus Saves,” “Jesus Is Lord,” “Trust Jesus,” or something of that sort into every doorway over a huge proportion of Manhattan. It was scratched vertically into the wall next to the exterior door of nearly every building over much of Manhattan. There must have been tens of thousands of these inscriptions. Does anyone else remember seeing this article or seeing the scratchings themselves?