Thursday, March 22, 2018

Christians on Jordan Peterson

Jordan Peterson might be on the political right, and he might even be a Christian. But comparing him to Billy Graham is a complete mismatch. I don't want to take anything away from the now deceased Billy Graham, but he was first and foremost a fundamentalist while Peterson is an intellectual.

What's the difference? Lets just say Peterson is unlikely to ask people to invite Jesus into their heart at the end of one of his lectures.

It is interesting to see Christians take a relatively positive perspective on this evolutionary psychologist.
In Sydney, Peterson encouraged everyone to voluntarily acknowledge our flaws, transgressions, vulnerabilities, and suffering in life – what he described as “practical and metaphysical advice”. He stated that Christ was the ultimate example of that practice because he was innocent, yet voluntarily suffered extreme torture and death – “a bedrock idea”.
My guess is that while Jordan has made great enemies with the far left and far right, he's pretty good at getting along with moderates. I've seen him in very civil conversations with Ben Shapiro, Joe Rogan, Dave Rubin, Russel Brand, Sam Harris, and Russ Roberts. What do they all have in common? Not political leanings that's for sure. They all have a basic openness to ideas.

Wow, psychology is right up there now