For months now, I have been watching Professor Peterson’s followers ask themselves on social media whether they think Jordan believes in God, and I have been struggling to figure out why. If Milo Yiannopoulos said he believed in God ( he has ), would you? If I said I believed in God ( I have ), would you? I’m thinking not—but why exactly? Milo is easily as famous as Jordan, so it can’t be fame as such. I am easily as well-educated (Ph.D., Columbia University, 1994) as Jordan (Ph.D., McGill University, 1991), so it can’t be education as such. Jordan and I both talk about the importance of the Western tradition and the role of mythology in giving us scripts for how to behave (he says archetypes, I say patterns or models ), so it can’t be the arguments he is making as such. It could be that he is a man, and I am not...but I don’t think that that is quite it either. I think it is because he insists that—whatever mode he is speaking in—he is a scientist. And what people want...
thanks for writing!
ReplyDeleteI believe it is we who should be thanking you, FB, for sharing so much in a thoughtful and engaging style. In particular, you capture the struggle for discerning worth and gaining satisfaction in a way that resonates with, well, me, at any rate.
ReplyDeleteUltimately I believe even our restlessness will be redeemed; or, rather, we shall behold that for which we were yearning without having been able to describe it. In the meantime, the manner in which we handle our doubts and disappointments--how we struggle with whether we are, in fact, the people we should be--has a very large part in shaping our characters. The daily plodding of life 'counts.'
Your open, indeed, vulnerable recounting of how you approach that daily challenge has been instructive and encouraging to me, and, I suspect, many others as well. There's also a fun side to the FB, which is why it is always eminently worthwhile visiting here time and again. Best wishes for your continued success (yes, success).
[Big grin] It's been a pleasure, really, and an honor having readers like you. Fencing Bear is very much looking forward to sharing her further adventures with you this next year!
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