# WWJD? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 4, 2012, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwjd/642959 "2012-12-04T14:54:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwjd/642959/21 "2012-12-05T03:31:40Z")
JWDYMCAYMCA iii. ---
**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 5, 2012, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwjd/642959/22 "2012-12-05T03:54:17Z")
Looking through the books mentioned in the link I gave in my post, I found a lot of uses of the sentence “What would Jesus do?” that predate the 1897 book by Charles M. Sheldon that popularized the phrase. I realize that this doesn’t really answer the question in the OP, but the phrase goes back further than you might think. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwjd/642959/23 "2012-12-05T04:43:39Z")
I read **In His Steps** when I was in high school. I had no idea that it was that old. I have found the idea helpful from time to time. I also like: WWTALD? (What Would Thelma and Louise Do?) ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwjd/642959/24 "2012-12-05T05:43:01Z")
I recall seeing “WWJD” bracelets in silver, in high school in the '80s. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwjd/642959/25 "2012-12-05T15:07:45Z")
How useful is “WWJD” really? I mean, how many situations are there in the real world where getting yourself nailed to a cross is likely to be the solution? ---
**Author:** ![SeldomSeen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@SeldomSeen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeldomSeen)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwjd/642959/26 "2012-12-05T17:19:10Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > I recall seeing “WWJD” bracelets in silver, in high school in the '80s. I first became aware of the WWJD meme about that time as well. (And a nice little catchphrase it is too. Too bad the folks who wear it don’t act on it more often.) Anyhow, I’ve always kind of associated it with the Reagan era. I think Reagan may have used it in a speech somewhere which would account for its popularity with evangelicals at the time. SS ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwjd/642959/27 "2012-12-05T17:43:03Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > How useful is “WWJD” really? I mean, how many situations are there in the real world where getting yourself nailed to a cross is likely to be the solution? Even as a straight up atheist, I still have to defend this. I’m pretty sure the answer is “turn the other cheek”, “give to the needy”, “love your neighbor” or something else honorable and worthwhile. I also recall late 90s. Around these parts, it culminated in the the “Christian Woodstock” frenzy that occurred when Billy Graham came to St. Louis around 1998-99. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwjd/642959/28 "2012-12-05T17:56:03Z")
This is the high point of one of those questions, that if you need to ask - you really don’t understand/want the answer. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwjd/642959.md?page=1)