Brett March 22, 2021

This is the longest blog I have ever posted. Also one of the most meaningful. It is divided it into smaller segments. Perhaps one section can be read each day. My next post will be published on March 29th. 

An Abridged Chronology
As far as I can tell, before 2016, Jordan Peterson was a psychology professor that was well-liked by his students, well-respected by his peers but not well known outside the University of Toronto.

Prior to joining the faculty at U of T, he held positions at McGill University from 1985-1993 and Harvard University from 1993-1998. He published Maps of Meaning in 1999, one year after he started in Toronto.

Throughout his teaching career, he maintained a part-time clinical practice. In summary, he lived a normal life, far from the public spotlight, and nobody paid much attention to his political views.

Until Bill C-16.

After his public opposition to Bill C-16, Peterson’s fame shot up like a rocket. Recall that the bill proposed to add gender identity and gender expression to the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code. Peterson released a series of YouTube videos to explain his thinking for opposing the bill.

He had two major critiques. First, it normalized identity politics which he thinks to be a precarious foundation for public policy. Second, it violated free speech because it would compel individuals to use certain words, in this case, personal pronouns, or face legal consequences.

Jordan Peterson was a psychology professor that was well-liked by his students, well-respected by his peers but not well known outside the University of Toronto. Until Bill C-16. Click To Tweet

The issue became quite public after well-attended events on campuses across Ontario were held. Some of these events were held to honour free speech and other events were organized in support of LGBTQ rights.  Peterson received much public criticism during this time.

Peterson defended himself against anyone suggesting that he was discriminating against gender diversified individuals. He was adamant that the primary issues that he was contending with were that Bill C-16 was the beginning of a slippery slope toward normalizing identity politics and it was the first time in common law that the government was going to compel speech from individuals.

The next 18-24 months was a tumultuous season. Peterson spoke at numerous events on university campuses across North America that were emotionally and politically charged. Many events were disrupted by protests.

He gave countless interviews and talk-show appearances. Some journalists were admirers and others loathed his thinking. The most famous interview took place in January 2018 with Cathy Newman of Britain’s Channel 4 News. It seemed that Newman was trying to simplify and re-frame most of what Peterson was saying to make him appear archaic, offensive, incendiary, and cartoonish. It did not work.

Eventually, Peterson took leave from his faculty position at the University of Toronto. He published his second book, 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos, which has sold more than 5 million copies and counting.

He continued to podcast, publish his lectures on YouTube and engaged a speaking tour with various thought leaders including Dave Rubin, Sam Harris, Bret Weinstein and Jonathan Pageau. His long-form conversations with Joe Rogan have been viewed by millions of people. He even did an interview with Bishop Robert Barron!

I cannot begin to imagine the stress Dr. Peterson must have experienced during this time. The strain of maintaining a ferocious speaking schedule combined with the stress of being hunted by heated adversaries and passionately pursued by loyal fans would crush most of us. Then the dam broke.

Fame and Unfortunate Events 
At the height of his fame, for a period of 12-16 months, he and his wife, Tammy, endured a series of hellish health issues, setbacks, and complications. I will keep it brief out of respect for their privacy and because the details are still emerging. Frankly, from what I have read and seen, Peterson and his wife are blessed to be alive. Sufficed to say he was out of the public spotlight for quite some time as the family dealt with things more important than the next interview or podcast.

His latest book, Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life, was published in March of this year. Amazingly, he wrote it during the year of medical and emotional turmoil. It was his “lifeline” to sanity as all hell broke loose. His new book will become a bestseller as it already sits on top of many countries top-selling list of books.

For the past number of weeks, Dr. Peterson has been engaging in public discourse more and more. He is currently working a couple of hours a day, doing interviews and podcasts. The remainder of his time is invested in maintaining his health.  When I consider what he needs to overcome every day just to live and breathe, his contributions seem more meaningful.

I have a deep appreciation for Dr. Jordan Peterson. I think he is an important voice in the world today. We lost much insight and guidance when he was forced to step away from the public. It is hard to think of all the water that flowed under the bridge while he was away – racial tensions and Black Lives Matter, COVID and all related legislation, the US election, continued polarization within the culture, to name a few.

I have a deep appreciation for Dr. Jordan Peterson. I think he is an important voice in the world today. We lost much insight and guidance when he was forced to step away from the public. Click To Tweet

I do not agree with everything he says, writes or thinks but the same can be said with every other human being. Heck, I don’t agree with some of the things I have said over the years!  What I do know to be true is that Dr. Peterson has much to offer the world in terms of how to critically think about complex issues. His presence can help us avoid the disaster of rushing to solutions today, mostly in a reactive state to one injustice or another, that become tomorrows biggest problems.

Peterson's presence can help us avoid the disaster of rushing too quickly solutions, mostly in a reactive state. It's never a good thing for today's solutions to become tomorrows problems. Click To Tweet

I would like to like to offer a few thoughts about Dr. Peterson and the phenomenon surrounding him.

A Reluctant Prophet
Jordan Peterson has sold millions of books; spoken to hundreds of thousands of people at live events and has millions of views on his YouTube channel. The New York Times called him the most influential public intellectual in the Western world. All that being true, I cannot help but sense a certain discomfort with it all.

He is not timid, shy, or passive, far from it. What I am most aware of in Dr. Peterson is what is missing more than what is present. So, what is missing? There is no unbridled ambition in Dr. Peterson.

What I am most aware of in Dr Peterson is what is missing more than what is present. What is missing? Unbridled and selfish ambition, commonly seen in other public figures, is not evident in Dr. Peterson. Click To Tweet

There is clarity of thought, absolutely. There is calculated speech, undoubtedly. There is an assertive transmission of ideas, thankfully! But there is also an air of humility. It is as though he recognizes the ideas that are true are not his property. He has inherited them, received them as a gift and he is a steward of their clarity, application and proliferation. He does not possess the true ideas; the ideas posses him.

He seems to think that ideas that are true are not his property. He inherited them, received them as a gift. He is the steward of their clarity, application and proliferation. He does not possess the true ideas; they posses him. Click To Tweet

There is no doubt that Dr. Peterson has financially profited from his fame. I am sure he enjoys speaking to tens of thousands of people at live events more than he might enjoy speaking to a few hundred. But the conversations that seem to mean the most to him, are the one-on-one encounters he has with individuals.

I have been moved to tears watching him be moved as he tells the stories. Remembering these meaningful encounters, he suggests with a trembling voice, “It is overwhelming,” then, regains his composure. I believe him when he says it is overwhelming. Young people (men and women), have shared with him how his lectures and writings have helped them turn their lives around.

His observation that “People need so little encouragement,” is wonderful and painful at the same time. Wonderful because it means that all of us, armed with only a few words of encouragement, can alter the life of an individual and therefore altar all of human history. And it is painful because most of us live without any encouraging words at all and we don’t have to.

Modern man tends to find fault like a buried treasure and we tend to tear down rather than build up. Dr Peterson is a man trying to help other people on their pilgrim journey. Fate has forced him into a public tornado that is dangerous because it is consequential, but he is there to do good and to be good, even as so many set traps against him.

Modern man tends to find fault like a buried treasure and tear down rather than build up. Dr Peterson has impacted countless young men by encouraging them to find meaning in responsibility and to make a sincere gift of self. Click To Tweet

Yes, the best way to describe the reluctance is to identify what is missing in Dr. Peterson. What is missing is a selfish ambition. I think Dr. Peterson has a keen sense of being called on for such a time as this. He was tapped to proceed with courage. You did not choose me but I chose you, are the words that come to mind.

He takes the public nature of his life very seriously. He understands the gravity of the issues he gets pulled into and confronts them with necessary prudence, clarity and fierceness. But I also sense that if someone or a group of persons as capable as he were to emerge, Peterson would happily pass the baton or take a supportive role. It seems that for now, this person is not yet coming forward or perhaps has the capacity but is too gripped by fear. After watching what has happened to Dr. Peterson, fear of speaking up is understandable.

What we witness in Dr. Peterson, is something we see in all great leaders. It is a combination of professional will and humility. A desire to do the most good, for something much bigger, more important and longer-lasting than oneself.

Dr. Peterson, like all great leaders, has the combination of professional will and humility. A desire to do the most good, for something much bigger, more important and longer-lasting than oneself. Click To Tweet

Saint John Paul II had the same sense of historical imagination. On his election day, he said to the Cardinals that elected him Pope, “May God forgive you for this” demonstrating his sense of humour and humility. He then set out to engage in the most public pontificate to date. “The Pope must not be held prisoner in the Vatican,” was his signal to launch a Papal pilgrimage that took him to 129 countries.

Pope John Paul’s teaching, prophetic ministry and travels won him many supporters and friends. It also landed him in hot water. He, like Peterson, was mislabeled and misunderstood. He was operating in a similar polarized environment. He wasn’t polarizing but he waded into a polarized territory to bring the Truth. This led him to be judged too liberal by some and overly conservative by others, sometimes on the same day.

Saint John Paul II, Dr. Jordan Peterson and all great leaders set out to steward well what has been given to them and they lose themselves in something much bigger and more important than even their own lives. When I think of great leaders that have become reluctant prophets, I think of Frodo from the Lord of the Rings. And like Frodo, all great leaders have their Mordor.

When I think of great leaders that have become reluctant prophets, I think of Frodo from the Lord of the Rings. And like Frodo, all great leaders have their Mordor. Click To Tweet

Peterson’s Mordor is the Polarized Fabric of Society
When Dr. Peterson stepped into a prophetic role, first by coming against Bill C-16, then by continually speaking timeless truths to various forms of wokeism, he knew full well where that journey would take him – into the tornado of polarized modern culture. In The Lord of the Rings, Frodo’s best friend and companion on the journey, Samwise Gamgee, said of Mordor, “It is the one place in Middle-earth we don’t want to see any closer, and the one place we’re trying to get to.” Dr. Peterson could say the same, the polarized storm is the one place he would not want to go and the one place he knew he end up.

In the Cathy Newman interview, Dr Peterson said something very important, “In order to think you have to risk being offensive.” In other words, to grapple well with the issues of our day, in all their layered complexity, you have continually risk offending for the sake of pursuing Truth. I wish and pray to God that we can give each other that kind of space to process, to think deeply and to dialogue through complex matters instead of just cancelling each other out as soon as disagreement, perceived or real, surfaces.

I pray that we can give each other space to think more deeply and to dialogue more openly through complex issues instead of cancelling each other as soon as disagreement surfaces. Click To Tweet

Peterson knew full well what Mordor had in store – the language of victimhood, hypersensitivity, group think, identity politics, unwarranted labels from the left and the right. Nevertheless, he set his face like flint, grounded himself as best he could and entered the Colosseum of contempt. Anyone bearing a ring of power, that is a mantle of influence, will travel the same path.

The life of the reluctant prophet is meaningful but difficult. Reluctant prophets say publicly what many are whispering privately. Because they appear to be alone, they are easily targeted or in the modern context, cancelled.

Reluctant prophets say publicly what many are whispering privately. Because they appear to be alone, they are easily targeted or in the modern context, cancelled. Click To Tweet

Reluctant prophets are willing to ask deeper questions before agreeing to reactive policy even if the question is misconstrued for one sin or another such as sexism, racism and bigotry. What Peterson says, he lives and suffers for it – in order to think you have to risk being offensive.

Reluctant prophets are willing to take a conversation where it needs to go even when fear says not to. So, Peterson asks the people championing the elimination of the gender pay gap to consider a more thorough multi-variate analysis before introducing an equitable solution for today that will become a societal problem tomorrow.

On the Bill Maher show, into the Trump-bashing banter, he inserts a thoughtful question, “What is the alternative, like, what will the American  people do with the vacuum created if Trump is impeached?” Fifty-percent of the country will celebrate and 50% would revolt – is that unity?

Peterson is not a Trump supporter. You don’t have to be to ask the question Peterson asked Bill Maher and his panel. You have to be concerned, and concerned we should be, by the polarization that has fallen on the US. It is really bad. And when he asked the question, he was not making a statement disguised as a question. He was asking something from a place of legitimate curiosity and encouraging the same curiosity in others. We need more and more leaders willing to forsake the facade and to lead with good questions rather than superficial and often reactionary answers.

No doubt Peterson is both revered and loathed by millions, so, ‘polarizing’ is a label that seems to fit. However, I am not sure if he himself is polarizing or if he is a lightning rod for the electric polarization already in the world.

Jordan Peterson is not a polarizing figure. But he is a lightning rod for the polarization already there and, sadly, growing every day. Click To Tweet

I have read much of what he has written and viewed many of his videos. I find him to be magnanimous, not easy to categorize on one side of the political spectrum or the other. To the alt-right, he would seem incurably tolerable, and the radical left would label him a fascist, white supremacist or sexist.

The world is deeply polarized. Catholic leaders such as Pope Francis, Mother Teresa, Bishop Barron and others – those who are not easily categorized into the right or left – have experienced the same treatment.

The world needs leaders that are magnanimous. Leaders that are not so easily boxed into identifiable groups or existing categories. These leaders lead by creating wide-open spaces for conversation, decisions and collaborative action. They are neither alt-right nor radical left, neither identify as conservative nor liberal.

Throughout the history of the Church, we have seen that most heresies are the result of moving something from the centre to one extreme or the other. The same can be said of factions in the Church, one preference or another positioned as morally superior, when the Church doesn’t make that distinction, is divisive.

Dr Peterson’s Message to Young Men
As one who has worked with young men for over two decades, I celebrate the fact that most of Dr. Peterson’s audience is young males if indeed this is true. I celebrate the testimonies of young men getting their lives sorted out.

Many young men grow up with the idea that getting older means having more privileges in life and fewer responsibilities. But when young men are granted more autonomous freedom, with no added obligations, they extend their adolescence into their 20’s or even their 30’s. Delaying the inevitable acceptance of responsibility leaves a young man untrained for it when it arrives. And it always does. No wonder anxiety and depression among young men are on the rise. Life is requiring something of them that they are ill-prepared to deliver.

Delaying the inevitable acceptance of responsibility leaves a young man untrained for it when it arrives. And it always does. Click To Tweet

Dr. Peterson is well aware of the state of young men today. When Cathy Newman asked Peterson, “You’ve said that men need to grow the hell up. Tell me why.” He replied, “Well because there’s nothing uglier than an old infant. There’s nothing good about it. People who don’t grow up don’t find the sort of meaning in their life that sustains them through difficult times and they are certain to encounter difficult times and they’re left bitter and resentful and without purpose and adrift and hostile and resentful and vengeful and arrogant and deceitful and of no use to themselves and of no use to anyone else and no partner for a woman and there’s nothing in it that’s good.”

Later in the interview, he said, “What I’ve been telling young men is that there’s an actual reason why they need to grow up, which is that they have something to offer, you know, that people have within them this capacity to set the world straight and that’s necessary to manifest in the world and that also doing so is where you find the meaning that sustains you in life.”

As you can see, Peterson’s loyalty from young men is not the result of coddling them. He isn’t providing an empty voice of cheerleading. He is telling them to get their act together. But also communicating to them that he believes in them, that he knows they have something to offer the world as men and that the world needs the realization of their potential.

In the Catholic Church we just celebrated the great Feast of Saint Joseph. God entrusted to the young man, Joseph, the protection of Mary and Jesus. The two greatest gifts ever given to humanity by God, were entrusted to a young man. That tells you what God thinks of young men.

Joseph found meaning and purpose in a sincere gift of self. Rather than trying to extract something from Mary and Jesus, he continually laid his life down in their service. Later on, in His public ministry, Jesus spoke these words, “In this is love, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Surely, Joseph would have come to mind when Jesus was preaching.

This was a long post. I have more to say and will do so another time. For now, I will continue to honour Dr. Peterson’s contributions and important voice in the world. His insights, example and guidance have made a very positive impact on me and my family. And for that, I thank God for Jordan Peterson.