The latest take on the “What Would Jesus Do?” (WWJD) phenomenon is passed along by Allen Galbraith of Life is a Journal (HT: Lifehacker).

Allen’s advice: “When dealing with difficult people imagine how one of your role models or heroes would deal with them.” Allen notes the possibilities of using Gandhi, the Dalai Lama, or Jesus as part of this thought experiment. But he also notes, “You could even use fictional characters as role models. In my case I would use Jean Luc Picard or Palmer Joss (from Contact) or Shepherd Book (from Firefly).” Lifehacker includes the example of Batman, who “would probably choose to either A)distract the perp with a new gadget or B)walk away and hide in his Bat Cave.”

Now clearly choosing Gandhi or Superman would be better than say, Hitler or Lex Luthor. This is why Allen also includes the caveat, “At this stage I am hoping you have positive role models!” This raises the ancillary question of how people in North Korea are being influenced, as they are taught to revere the self-proclaimed “Guardian Deity of the Planet” Kim Jong-Il.

For more on substituting super heroes for Jesus, see my “Anti-Christ Superman: The Superhero and the Suffering Servant” (and related mentary).