As we celebrate our Risen Lord, we welcome new Catholics into the fold.

As of last year, one-quarter of Americans (26%) identify as religiously unaffiliated, with Catholics suffering the largest decline among major religious groups a 10 percentage point loss overall, according to anew survey.

But that sad news is not the whole story, for we know the joy of faith.

Joy, when it is shared, grows. Let us share the joy of the Risen One, Pope Francisencourages us this Easter Octave.

And we have new Catholics among us.

As we celebrate our Risen Lord, we welcome all the new Catholics into the fold. Blessed to have you here!

Here are a few updates to inspiring stories of conversion we have covered as part of EWTN News:

Tammy Peterson, wife of Jordan Peterson, is now Catholic. Congratulations, and welcome, Tammy!

Related reads:

Tammy Petersons Conversion Story: Finding God Amid the Ordeal of Illness| National Catholic Register (ncregister.com)

Tammy Peterson Speaks About Her Healing From Cancer and Conversion to Catholicism| National Catholic Register (ncregister.com)

Jordan Peterson Discusses Wifes Miraculous Recovery From Cancer and Her Embrace of Catholicism| National Catholic Register (ncregister.com)

As Wife Joins the Catholic Church, Jordan Peterson Says Easter Is the Core Story of Humanity| National Catholic Register (ncregister.com)

An entire family became Catholic together at the Easter vigil over the weekend:Becoming Catholic Together: Joining the Church at the Easter Vigil Is a Family Affair in Michigan| National Catholic Register (ncregister.com)

See their faith-filled joy in the main photo above. Welcome, Vickers family!

Likewise, welcome to all of the new Catholics: Welcome, New Catholics!| National Catholic Register (ncregister.com). You are in our prayers!

Are you newly Catholic? Did you parish welcome a contingent of catechumens and candidates? We would love to hear from you.

Easter blessings!

Go here to read the rest:

New Catholics Find Faith in a Culture Where Belief Is Waning - EWTN UK

Matt Rife is in the dog house with his mostly female fanbase, so, to save his career, hes asking for help from a figure who earned massive online success without a single woman fan Jordan Peterson.

Just weeks ago,Rife commanded one of the largest and most fervent following of women in the online comedy community. With his (possibly literally) sculpted jawline, his impressive physique and his enthusiasm for suggestive interactions with fans, Rife was equally beloved by Gen Z girls as he was by their mothers and grandmothers. However, in his debut Netflix special,Natural Selection, which skyrocketed to the top of the charts upon its November 10th release, Rife made a deliberate effort to distance himself from the pretty boy persona that turned off many male comedy fans from taking the Ohio-born social media star seriously. Rife infamously opened the special with a Nothing, you already told her twice-esque joke about domestic violence, which sparked media controversy and blowback from women in his fandom who felt betrayed by his sudden and intentional heel-turn towards insipid, unoriginal dude-bro comedy.

Over the weekend, Rife appeared on the podcast of a popular figure in the manosphere, a corner of the outrage-driven internet where Rife clearly believes he belongs. Peterson, an author, commentator and psychologist who represents the pseudo-intellectual spearhead of the alt-rights culture warriors, embraced Rife for refusing to back down to his detractors bysarcastically posting an apology with a link to a special-needs helmet store. Peterson described Rifes reaction to his critics as a witty, fast, brave and appropriate response to the situation and you can tell that Peterson really believes that Rife is hilarious by how his assessment of the joke has the seriousness of a eulogy.

I thought the joke was funny risky, and funny and I thought your response was dead on, Peterson told Rife with a stern scowl splashed across his face. The controversial conservative commentator declared that Rife had been canceled, using the comics situation as a microcosm for the issues of censorship and sensitivity that Peterson has spent the last decade complaining about on the internet. While describing Rife as a profoundly persecuted martyr, Peterson called the controversy a tempest in a teapot and wished that Rifes idiot accusers would all pass away and spend eternity in hell composed of nothing but people like them talking to them.

Rife said of his controversial opening bit onNatural Selection, Its a modern twist on an old joke, claiming, I wanted to put my own spin on it with it being the tired copy/pasted gag where a woman is beaten and a man says that she deserved it for failing some household duty, sometimes calling her a broken down dishwasher. Rife characterized his style as high risk, high reward, a point with which Peterson emphatically agreed on the grounds that the woke mob now wages war on the comic as the result of the courageous risks he takes. At the time of publication,Natural Selectionis still streaming on Netflix and Rife is not imprisoned for charges of being too provocative.

Of course, the real problem with the bit that Rife and Peterson dissected with all the humor and playfulness of a deposition is self-evident by the comics failure to inspire so much as a smile from his host the joke just wasn't funny. Much like Rifes ensuing promotional tour on the alt-right podcast circuit, Natural Selection was a cynical attempt to rebrand Rife as a guys guy comic worthy of the grift that Peterson and his fellow podcasters in the comedy world continue to exploit for massive financial gain. Whether onstage or on Petersons show, Rifes problem is that he isnt trying to make people laugh hes trying to pander to a specific group whom he sees as his path to greater success than he had with his former female following.

At no point was this more obvious than when Peterson asked Rife why he reached out to the alt-right psychologist to organize an appearance on the show. Rife replied, Im a huge fan, man. Listen, you and I have never met, and Ill be truthfully honest, I havent done extensive research into everything youve done. But I find you to be a very kind man, and very well spoken, and someone who stands on their morals and the realism of society today. And I think that is incredibly rare. Despite being a huge fan, Rife couldnt even be bothered to do his research about his host while maneuvering to access his platform of potential you just cant joke about anything nowadays comedy fans. Rifes move to appear on Petersons podcast stinks like another lazy, calculated attempt to earn the aesthetic of edginess without doing any of the intellectual work to actually push boundaries.

For that reason, I fully expect the scheme to pay off and for Peterson fans to rally behind Rife in his new phase as the most popular incel-adjacent comic in podcasting. Peterson can teach Rife plenty about pandering to angry, lonely men on the internet, even if he cant connect to Rifes past of ever once enjoying the affection of women.

Original post:

Matt Rife Is Such A Great Comic That He Needs Jordan Peterson to Explain Why Hes Funny - Cracked.com

Were less stupid and destructive than our opponents is a claim almost certainly true on the conservative side, given the terrible slide into Left-wing radicalism that increasingly characterises the Democrats but it is hardly an inspiring vision. It is also the case that the typical decent conservative is simply outmatched when it comes to character assassination and mud-slinging: the Left has elevated reputation-savaging and destruction to an art. If I had to wager on who was better at it, by character and practice, I would place my bet on Californias all-too-smiley, shiny, slick and popular Newsom rather than the earnest-to-the-point-of-easy-satire DeSantis.

Here are some real questions that serious, thoughtful people might perhaps really want to have answered: by what principles do you govern? Why those principles, rather than the many others available? How do your principles differ, in your opinion, from those of your opponent? What is your vision, generally, for the future and, more specifically, with regard to the important dimensions of human life: employment, entrepreneurship, education, energy, environment, family; with regard to civic responsibility, opportunity and duty?

Did anyone learn from the debate what would be different under DeSantis or Newsom, with regard to the energy that keeps our lights on, the environment that we will leave our grandchildren, or the educational and health systems that cost us ever more and in many ways deliver ever less?

The Fox hosting was designed to produce the fiery debate (which was almost all smoke, rather than true flames) it sold itself as in the aftermath mop-up. That post-hoc analysis was also purely performative and formulaic, featuring as it did the same predictable commentators, looking both half-dead and pithed as they always do, in consequence of being unable to see or even truly hear their questioner or their fellow participants through the archaic single earbuds and faceless one-way camera the networks still inexplicably insist upon employing.

The discussion could have been mediated to maximise reasonable and informative exchange, rather than designed or allowed to spark and encourage a destructive fire. An agreed-upon list of (real) questions would have improved things: some space for a genuine interviewer to interpose something spontaneous, and the imposition of some actual equally-agreed-upon rules of engagement: three minutes for a response, say, from each participant, with another minute or two for rebuttal.

Instead, it seemed that half the time Newsom and DeSantis were talking over one another, with Hannitys voice frequently added to the fray. All that did was present a juvenile front.

We need to grow up, and quickly. The tectonic plates are moving underneath us, at a rate heretofore unprecedented, and the shocks and after-shocks will be both continuous and great. We can no longer afford and probably never could to parasitise the political process for the sake of the ratings that are, in any case, falling ever-further and seem fated to do so.

Were embroiled in at least two wars. Our societies are rife with internal conflict. We have great possibilities and great danger in front of us. We must negotiate that territory carefully or there will be an unimaginable price to pay. It would have been much better to have the discussion hosted by Joe Rogan, or Theo Von, or Lex Fridman the popular podcast hosts derided by Newsom as leading micro-cults. Those hosts attract large audiences because they ask honest questions and promote true dialogue, without any of the faux-entertainment hype that has characterised the political and ideational landscape since the widespread introduction of broadcast television. Rogan manages to dominate the podcast landscape making the charts in 65 countries with a team that basically consists of himself and one assistant. Hype is not his aim. The same is true of the other new media interviewers with true global impact.

Ultimately, we should be talking about what comes next, instead of casting aspersions at our hypothetical foes. These are people we must live beside and with. We can accomplish that with vision, not with accusation no matter how justified and necessary such accusation sometimes is. Heres a thought for would-be leaders: My opponents are, at best, wrong not because of the errors they are currently making, no matter how manifold, but because the possibilities they are offering are simply not as attractive as what I am dreaming up and planning.

I would love to see a true vision presented by the would-be leaders of the US, as the problems that beset America are characteristic of those plaguing us everywhere in the free and democratic world. We need to up our game: conservatives, liberals and progressives alike. Sadly, that is not what happened on the Thursday night of the Right versus Left smoke-and-mirror juvenile broadcast brawl we were subjected to.

You can watch The Telegraphs most recent interview with Jordan Peterson via this link.

More from Jordan Peterson exclusively for The Telegraph:

- Eco-extremists are leading the world towards despair, poverty, and starvation

- We are sacrificing our children on the altar of a brutal, far-Left ideology

- Trans activism is sexist and delusional

- Why I love Great Britain

- Twitter is turning us all insane

See the rest here:

American democracy is exhausted - and US media elites are digging its grave - The Telegraph

I watched Matt Rife's crowd work on TikTok and found him charming and funny. After watching his new Netflix special, which has caused him to be widely and sharply criticized, I regret giving him my attention. If you don't know who Matt Rife is, consider yourself lucky. Vox has a great quickprimeron his Netflix show and how it went so quickly off the rails:

Rife's opening joke in which he makes fun of a woman experiencing domestic violence with the punchline, "I feel like if she could cook, she wouldn't have that black eye" is the one getting all the attention, but it can't be overstated that the entire show is a bomb. The domestic violence joke is part of a larger distasteful joke about how "ratchet" the city of Baltimore is (Rife, who is white, leans heavily onAAVEthroughout his work). He follows this up with a long section mocking women for beliefs in pseudoscience, portraying this trend, bafflingly, as something only women are into, and something that seems to give him carte blanche to make fun of all women. ("You are in complete control of how your future turns out," he insists, while scolding women for believing in "crystals.")

Then there's a deeply cringe extended segment about children with intellectual disabilities, including a terrible jokeallegedly stolen almost verbatimfrom the late comedian Ralphie May. This is followed by a straightforwardly homophobic riff teleported in from the '90s about (gay) monsters in the closet. If you can make it through all that you're treated to a long description of Rife masturbating in the shower. And so it goes. None of it is remotely funny, and the reaction from the public has been overwhelmingly negative. Currently on Rotten Tomatoes,just 16 percentof the audience gaveNatural Selectiona favorable review, with the word "unfunny" popping upagain and againin user reactions.

Rife responded by liking tweets from people coming to his defense, even if their defensesonly made him look worse. He also responded, more publicly, by doubling down on the offensiveness. On November 20, Rife posted a response to the backlash in anInstagramStory: "If you've ever been offended by a joke I've told here's a link to my official apology." The link, which read, "Tap to solve your problem," led to a link to purchase a protective helmet for children with special needs. This response inevitablyled to more backlash.

I somehow thought Rife couldn't get any worse than that awful response, but he has since doubled down, and now is fully becoming the darling of the manosphere that I guess he always aspired to be. He has recently sealed his fate by appearing on the Jordan Peterson show. Episode 401, which was posted yesterday, is called "Rife For Cancellation," and is described this way on Peterson's YouTube:

Dr. Jordan B Peterson sits down in-person with recently "canceled" comedian Matt Rife. They discuss the incident in question, his viral response, the prominence of crowd work in his act, his early career start at the age of 15, the innovative use of social media to build his name, and the real reason he remains unapologetic for having a sense of humor. Matthew Steven Rife was born in 1995 and is an American stand up comedian and actor. He started early, entering a school talent show at the age of 14 after being encouraged by a friend. Finding this to be a success, he went professional the next year at age 15. Using TikTok, he managed to consistently go viral with his stand up and "red flag" crowd work. He then entered the arena full time, using social media to grow his name before producing three straight-to-YouTube comedy specials from 2021 to 2023. This year, he debuted his first Netflix special, "Natural Selection."

If you know anything about Peterson, then you already know exactly how this interview goesthey deride "cancel culture," they praise "free speech," and they evenmake appealsto evolutionary biology to discuss masculinity, gender, and "sneaky rape" (because of course they do). Watchhere, if you must.

The rest is here:

Jordan Peterson consoles comedian who mocked beaten women, stole jokes, and is beefing online with a plastic surgeon - Boing Boing

As todays cancel culture mightily attempts to push God out of the public sphere, Tammy and Dr. Jordan Peterson are weighing in on religions place in our increasingly secular world.

Both have wrestled with questions of faith and are carving out their own paths to truth and understanding. Tammy has talked publicly, including in an exclusive interview published in the Oct. 29 issue of The Catholic Register, about her journey towards becoming a Catholic. Jordan, the renowned psychologist and thorn in the side of so-called woke culture, is writing a book delving into Biblical stories. Its set to be published in 2024 and may give a glimpse into his own journey of faith.

Its about 90 per cent finished. Its calledWe Who Wrestle with God. Some people will be familiar with the lectures I did on Genesis and also with the most recent Exodus seminar, and this is an extension of that work, Jordan told The Register.

I walk through a number of the main Biblical stories, Old and New Testament alike, and a commentary on their psychological, practical, social and possibly philosophical and theological significance. So (its) an explanation of, for example, what it means to live in a covenantal relationship, he said.

Its not something people understand, why the foundation of the well - integrated psyche and a stable society is sacrifice Im attempting to answer questions like that.

Asked about progress in his own faith journey, Jordan was not ready to divulge details.

People have to figure that out for themselves, he answered. What do they say, By your fruits you will know them.

One of those fruits has been their 35-year marriage, which weathered the storms of health struggles and the media spotlight, particularly since Jordan rose to prominence when he fought back against gender ideology as a professor at the University of Toronto.

You enter into marriage as an act of faith. You fall in love with someone which is a grace, a gift from God in some real sense, Jordan said in a DailyWire+ video.

In response to Tammys newfound faith, Jordan said he is ready to support her and stand with his wife when she becomes Catholic this Easter.

Yes, its been very good for her. Im happy to see things that are good for her unfolding. Its also helped her have a very positive effect on all sorts of other people so thats also extremely good. Theres nothing in it that isnt good, as far as I can tell, and there isnt anything you can say that about, he said.

Tammy credits the Rosary for the growth in her own faith,

My faith, with the Rosary, has been strengthened, she recently told a group of about 70 people at Kintore College, a cultural centre and private residence for female post-secondary students in downtown Toronto.

Sometimes, I call my daughter and I tell her what happened that day. (I say) God was sending this challenge and I see what I can do to respond properly, she said.

The Petersons were invited by their friend, Queenie Yu, a Numerary member of the personal prelature of Opus Dei and Hawthorn School for Girls director of Character Education, to speak at a Nov. 7 event at Torontos Kintore College with Hawthorn students, parents and friends. Hawthorn is an independent, Catholic-inspired all-girls school in north Toronto. Tammy has been involved with female leadership and mentorship programs at Kintore College and was keynote speaker at Hawthorns graduation last year.

News of Tammys Catholic conversion has gone viral since she first told The Catholic Register in late September that she started Catechism classes through the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults, previously known as the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA).

During their marriage, the Petersons have faced Herculean health challenges: their daughters debilitating childhood arthritis, Tammys cancer and health battles and Jordans own health crisis when he battled severe benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome that saw him placed in a medically induced coma. These could have proved insurmountable had it not been for their steadfast commitment to each other, to the truth and their unwavering support for each others quest to be the best version of themselves.

Whats been the secret to their lasting marriage? Tammy said its following through with the public commitment.

When I got married, I decided I was going to stay no matter what. I took my vows seriously. I wanted to make sure that I was committed 100 per cent and thats partly what marriage is. When you marry one another and you do that in front of the priest in the church, with all of your friends and your family around, youre saying, Im going to do this and I have witnesses, she said.

Our daughter was very, very sick as a child and we had differing ideas of what was good for her. We still held together. And weve had our own health issues that couldve easily pulled us apart, but they didnt, Tammy said. We decided that we would stay together and support one another through thick and thin, and I would say that our relationship since all of those things that weve been through is better, deeper and stronger and more of an adventure than its ever been.

From the first date to the altar, the Petersons have set their sites upon building a relationship rooted in truth. Transparency is key, Jordan emphasized.

Dont lie to your partner. What are you going to do? Are you going to blind them to the reality of your shared life?

Alluding to Scripture, he said, Youre supposed to build your life on a rock, not on sand.

Jordan and Tammy met in the small northern Alberta town of Fairview, with a population of fewer than 3,000.

Jordan was eight when he met Tammy. His family lived across the street from her house. They were childhood friends and played croquet together.

We would sit outside Fairview on a hill where you could see right across the Peace River to the next 40 or 50 miles away. You could see strings of lights and it was beautiful, Tammy recalled.

In senior year, Jordan was Tammys grad date. After high school, they went their separate ways Jordan to Montreal and Tammy to pursue a kinesiology degree in Ottawa but kept in touch. They reconnected in Montreal and after committing to tell the truth, they were married. They have two children, Mikhaila and Julian, three grandchildren and more on the way. Mikhaila recently announced on social media that she and her husband, Jordan Fuller, are expecting a baby.

Jordan previously described the goal of marriage as being the perfect date that repeats itself endlessly.

A winning formula for the Petersons has also been the tradition of the Date Night which they adopted after they welcomed their first baby, and it continues today.

We get dressed in something nice, Tammy explained. Jordan comes down and makes sure the room is tidy and the pillows are fluffed up, the candles are lit and the music is on.

I turn the lasers on, Jordan added, referring to their laser lights from the 1970s.

They turn up the volume to their romance on a Spotify playlist featuring songs from The Great American Songbook, jazz classics, and Billie Holiday. And they dance.

From the dance floor to the public arena, speaking ones truth can come at a cost. How does one find the courage to speak up?

They say the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. No one would be afraid to tell the truth if they were sufficiently afraid of the alternative, Jordan said.

People have commented on my bravery to me before. They dont have it right, he said, adding that the idea of being silenced by the government was more terrifying.

Totalitarian states emerge, he said, when people lose control of their tongues.

For Tammy, speaking up is connected to her newfound faith.

I really want to do my part so if it helps anyone to have a better understanding or clear understanding of who they might be and how they might give their heart to Jesus, that would be a good thing, she said.

Share your thoughts and contribute to the ongoing conversation by sending us a Letter to the Editor.

See the article here:

Tammy and Jordan Peterson: wrestling with their faith - The B.C. Catholic

Things have changed for me a lot since I started praying the rosary. Those are the exact words of Tammy Petersonadvocate, podcaster and wife of world renowned psychologist Jordan Peterson.

Tammy battled and survived a rare kidney cancer that was 100% fatal. While in the hospital, her friend gifted her a rosary blessed by the Pope, which changed her perspective on life.

TAMMY PETERSON Advocate, podcaster, wife of psychologist Jordan Peterson She would tell me the story of each mystery and then ask what intention I wanted, if I wanted to pray for anyone. The prayers helped me get through excruciating scans. I wouldn't really even notice the pain that I was in as long as I prayed without fail.

Her rosary testimony is explained in this YouTube video by True Faith TV that has received over 2 million views within 2 weeks.

The couple's journey has garnered popularity around the world, especially Tammy's newfound hope in the Catholic faith.

DR. JORDAN PETERSON World-renowned psychologist, podcaster Likely what she has discovered more particularly as a consequence of moving in the Catholic direction is that she has discovered the identity between Christ and the truth.

But the rosary wasn't the only aspect of Catholicism that helped lead her to the faith. She also has a devotion to St. Josemara Escriv. Just five days into praying his novena for the sick, a hole in her lymph system that she was receiving treatment for healed itself.

DR. JORDAN PETERSON World-renowned psychologist, podcaster She's also, as far as we know, the only person to ever survive this cancer.

Tammy Peterson will become a member of the Catholic Church at Easter. She says that prayer, faith and the rosary are a practice and that the things we practice are all we are left with when challenges arise.

AT

See the original post here:

Conversion story of Jordan Peterson's wife receives over 2 million views - ROME REPORTS TV News Agency

The Jordan B. Peterson PodcastNov 30, 2023

Dr. Jordan B Peterson sits down in-person with recently canceled comedian Matt Rife. They discuss the incident in question, his viral response, the prominence of crowd work in his act, his early career start at the age of 15, the innovative use of social media to build his name, and the real reason he remains unapologetic for having a sense of humor.

Matthew Steven Rife was born in 1995 and is an American stand up comedian and actor. He started early, entering a school talent show at the age of 14 after being encouraged by a friend. Finding this to be a success, he went professional the next year at age 15. Using TikTok, he managed to consistently go viral with his stand up and "red flag" crowd work. He then entered the arena full time, using social media to grow his name before producing three straight-to-YouTube comedy specials from 2021 to 2023. This year, he debuted his first Netflix special, "Natural Selection."

- Links -

For Matt Rife:

On X https://x.com/mattrife?s=20

On Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2mKA8JTOCeodl9bEK7w42Q

On Tiktok https://www.tiktok.com/@matt_rife?lang=en

Full Specials:

Only Fans https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzgFwZEAHZQ

Matthew Steven Rife https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AwsR1iqsuE

Walking Red Flag https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HkmMXprPwI&t=768s

Watch Natural Selection on Netflix now!

Continue reading here:

Rife For Cancellation | Matt Rife - The Daily Wire

Commentary

Im not quite sure when counselling people to make their bed every morning became a seditious act of far-right extremism, but according to a coalition in the nations capital, the two are linked.

Starting each day with a completed task such as tucking the sheets in is among Jordan Petersons tips in his book 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos, which has now been on Amazons list of best-sellers for 256 weeks. He may be internationally renowned as a leading public intellectual, but in Canada some people want him shut down.

Three dozen self-described Ottawa community organizations want their city council to ban Peterson from speaking on Jan. 30 at the Canadian Tire Centre.

As we approach the one-year anniversary of the so-called Freedom Convoy, the last thing we need is a spokesperson of the far-right taking centre stage in our city, Jaime Sadgrove, manager of communications and advocacy for the Canadian Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity, told the Ottawa Citizen.

Fae Johnstone, a critic from the trans community, chimed in on Twitter: Proud to join over three dozen organizations across Ottawa calling on the @CdnTireCtr to cancel their upcoming event with misogynistic, racist and transphobic Jordan Peterson.

And as Johnstone told the Citizen: His message puts marginalized folks at risk.

And there you have itsome pretty clear outlines of the arguments that will be used to suppress speech in Canada in the coming years. Disagreeable phrases, or even thoughts, put people at risk. Never mind Peterson (he can take care of himself), the real concern going forward for the rest of us is how deftly the radical left has led the charge for censorship.

So far, theyve been stunningly successful in shaping the conversation to their liking. Really, theyve run the table and as it stands theres no reason to think they wont continue to do so.

They have done it by conquering the narrative. Words that offend have swiftly transitioned from offensive or eew to acts of hate that can inspire violence. When they choose, even silence is violence. People of colour are now racializeda far more active term which has swiftly been adopted, unopposed, by most corporate human resource departments. Inconvenient facts are unashamedly labelled disinformation.

Catholic priests are about to be banned as chaplains in the Canadian Armed Forces because their church maintains views that allegedly make them incapable of spiritual compassion when it comes to women and gay soldiers and sailors. They, it is feared, may feel more uncomfortable in the chaplains presence than they are grasping for the salvation of their immortal souls.

Most of us may never have met one, but public servants are taught in education sessions that white supremacists and their attitudes are stitched throughout the fabric of society and, as critical race theory gets adopted unimpaired by intellectual review, its now accepted that all white people are irredeemably racist. Nerves are so raw that, for instance, theUniversity of Southern California has removed the term field from its curriculum due to racist connotations. In reports concerning cancer screening, some media refer to people with cervixes rather than use the term women.

Its a minefield. And a very cleverly designed one at that.

It is the foundation upon which Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez will build legislation restricting freedom of expression. As most folks know by now, governments can legitimately argue for restricted speech when it is linked to harm. To put it simply, a trained psychologist like Jordan Peterson standing up on a stage in Ottawa and claiming that people with penises might not be actual women is the 21st-century equivalent of shouting Fire! in a crowded theatre. And whether its true or not just doesnt matter.

Just ask J.K. Rowling who, although she has never spoken one harsh word against a member of the trans community, continues to be given the bums rush from polite society, as Brendan ONeill put it recently in the Spectator.

What has really happened is that belief in biological sex has been redefined as bigotry, he wrote. Standing up for womens sex-based rights has been rebranded as transphobia. So Rowlings perfectly normal views, which are likely shared by most people out there, can be talked about as hate crimes when they are nothing of the kind.

British author and political commentator Konstantin Kisin, who is about as middle of the political road as it gets, has similarly found himself shunned by some media for his efforts to bring reason to the woke, recently through a very popular speech to the Oxford Union. And yet:

Funny how people attack me for going on right-leaning media, he tweeted. Do you know that not ONE left-leaning publication or TV show has invited me on to talk about my speech? Not one.

Thoughts and words that once were viewed as merely contentious or disagreeable are now subjected to the most severe opprobrium from segments of society previously deemed radical but which are now termed moderate. The moderatesthe sort of people who like to make their beds every morningare now the extremists. Resist and you risk being branded an ally of all the evils listed above.

Hyperbolic neo-puritanism isnt just winning, its poised to codify its victory in legislation, after which there will be no going back. And, as history teaches, those who suppress free expression never turn out to be the good guys.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Peter Menzies is a senior fellow with the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, an award winning journalist, and former vice-chair of the CRTC.

See the original post:

Peter Menzies: Ottawa's Speech-Restricting Legislation Built on Same Foundation That Aims to Silence Peterson ... - The Epoch Times

Can we know and choose meanings and values that will make us worthwhile and happy? Can we know who we are and ought to be? Can we know ourselves, construct community and relate to God and others wisely and well?

Jordan Peterson argues we can find meaning even in the chaos and suffering of life. Bernard Lonergan, S.J., demonstrates how to transcend ourselves in knowledge, how to heal our culture, how to discern and discover truth, and how to relate to the loving mystery of God. Father Lonergan shows us the way to progress and how to counter the forces of decline. These two Canadians address our punishingly polarized, religious and cultural controversiesbut in radically different ways.

Peterson, a public intellectual, global phenomenon and omnipresent YouTube star, is a clinical psychologist and a superb speaker. He revels in denouncing the postmodern denizens of contemporary academe. He discovers deep meaning in everything from academic journals to biblical stories to classical literature to Disney movies to Harry Potter to the lives of his two children. Peterson decries Jacques Derridas proposition that all is interpretation and Michel Foucaults assertion that everything is just a struggle for power.

Peterson preaches that our existence is structured by natural hierarchies, rooted in nature. Inequality has its benefits (although he realizes too much inequality is eventually destructive). Gender fluidity, most leftist ideologies and some contemporary movements for social justice (e.g., Black Lives Matter) are targets of his withering critiques. He argues that such utopian visions are ultimately harmful to the persons they pretend to assist. He is rightly haunted by his extensive studies of the worst people, places and events of the 20th century: Hitlers atrocities, Stalins gulag, Maos cultural revolution and the Khmer Rouges killings.

He defends capitalism, supports those who lean toward the maintenance of the status quo, and questions those who too quickly and unreflectively tear apart established orders without knowing where such revolutionary energies eventually lead.

For Peterson, the best we can do is devise strategies for balancing the threatening forces of chaos with order, characterized by sensible freedom and societal compromises that do not allow liberties to develop into tyrannies. His astute analysis of the difficulties of perception calls attention to the ways in which our own internal functioning(s) cause us to see the world in certain ways. Curiously, he approaches questions of being and God but pulls back from definitive pronouncements on such matters. Maybe this is a sign of an admirable heuristic humility. But in the final analysis, he offers more means of survival than reasons for transformative grace and hope.

Petersons two best-sellers, 12 Rules for Life and Beyond Order (along with his earlier academic tome, Maps of Meaning), provide observations and stories, many from Petersons personal life and clinical practice. Like Scott Pecks 1978 The Road Less Traveled, whose first words were life is difficult, Peterson begins with the pain and suffering of human existence. He trumpets his message, especially to young men: Get your act together. Dont expect anyone to make life easy for you. Confronting lifes inevitable tragedies and tribulations requires sacrifice. Get off the couch in your parents basement. Choose a path. Work to make things the way you want. Be honest, truthful and wise. Be strong. Be heroic. In doing so, you will find a meaningful life and be a worthwhile person.

Among the Canadian Jesuit Bernard Lonergans works are two major undertakings: Insight: A Study of Human Understanding (1957) and Method in Theology (1972). Both are demanding but rewarding reading (hint: Start with Method). Lonergan describes our lives as part of cosmic processes of emergent probability. Cycles of progress and decline characterize human history.

The rock on which we can build is the transcultural, transtemporal, self-evident fact of the deep and disinterested desire to know that characterizes human persons. To disagree with Lonergans starting point is contradictory: Such disagreement demonstrates the desire to know at issue. For Lonergan, the act of understanding reveals our cognitional structure, which reveals a metaphysics (what is really real and true) and ushers forth an ethics (the revelation of what we ought to do).

Lonergans method is transcendental. The appropriation and practicing of Lonergans method lead us beyond ourselves to relations with others and, ultimately, God. The point is self-appropriation of our consciousness, i.e., awareness, on the levels of experiencing, understanding, judging and deciding. Each of these levels reveal intrinsic transcendental precepts, or rules: Be attentive, be intelligent, be reasonable, be responsible. I would add that creative action calls us to be loving.

Lonergan profoundly analyzes evil rooted in the reality of bias. As much as we desire to know and desire to come to the act of insight, we can be blind or obstinate, and thus can resist the challenges of the transcendental precepts mentioned above. Bias operates on personal and communal levels. We screen out data (e.g., racists refusal to realize that other races are equal); communities and cultures can become corrupt (e.g., Nazi abominations); one can authentically appropriate an unauthentic culture and meaning system.

Bias also can infect our common sense, causing us to judge social problems in overly simplistic ways. Take gun control as an example. Many people coming from theoretical approaches ask questions like the following: Why do we see mass murders almost daily in the United States, while other nations see so few? Why are so many incomprehensible mass shootings carried out by unhappy, isolated, friendless, young white men? Why are so many murders in our cities the result of young Black men killing young Black men? Why do we refuse to sanely regulate guns? There are no simple, common-sense answers to such questions. And yet note that it is not uncommon to hear simplistic dismissals like guns dont kill people; people kill people.

For Lonergan, conversion is key. Our commitment to authenticity, lived in our accepting the wisdom of the transcendental precepts, makes for progress. The opposite, inauthenticity, can also lead to decline. Being attentive, intelligent, reasonable, responsible and loving is better than ignoring reality, being stupid, reveling in being unreasonable, refusing responsibility and frustrating the power of love with apathy and hate. By conversion on the intellectual, moral and religious levels of our being, we transcend to the reality of God.

Peterson is well worth reading and hearing, even when one disagrees with some of his pronouncements. Further, his popularity and impact force us to ask: What need in the culture and times is he fulfilling? His recipes for finding ways to good and true humanity are attractive to many, albeit those who are dissatisfied with the more leftist readings of social reality. Ultimately, Peterson argues that the only way to set the world right is to fix oneself.

Lonergan, on the other hand, realizes that we can only truly meet our challenges with collective effort. The group, not the individual, transforms culture. Lonergans owners manual for humans also goes wider and deeper than Petersons binary of chaos and order.

In Chapter 7 of Insight, Lonergan describes his theory of Cosmopolis, an analysis of social reality written in the 1950s in the wake of World War II that sounds eerily like a prescription for the ills of our present world. Cosmopolis recognizes that overly individualistic solutions are not viable. We are all in this together. We, not just I, must respond to the challenges of our times. Matters like climate change, extreme income inequality, racism and sexism require a transformation of ourselves, our communities and our culture.

Cosmopolis is the yet-to-be-constructed set of social relations that will make a world of peace and liberty and justice for all. It calls us to speak the simple truth though truth has gone out of fashion, as Lonergan puts it; to open ourselves and our communities to solutions and answers we often want to avoid. But Cosmopolis is not easy to construct, because the cycles of progress and decline are not understood by common sense, and our different theories about progress clash. We need the grace of a higher viewpoint.

For Lonergan, that higher viewpoint is faith, the knowledge born of religious love. Aquinas taught that grace is the ability to do what we could not do before. To avoid the descent into new forms of totalitarianism, to become who we deeply desire to be, we must discover how to relate to one another and God in ways that increase freedom and love while diminishing the destruction of decline.

Faith is also about opening ourselves to God setting things right. Authentic ways of knowing and choosing and loving lead us to being in love with God, Lonergan writes in Method in Theology, and that love is the basic fulfillment of our conscious intentionality. That fulfillment brings a deep-set joy. That fulfillment brings a radical peace. That fulfillment bears fruit in a love of ones neighbor that strives mightily to bring about the kingdom of God on this earth. Further, the failure to reach such fulfillment fills us with the conviction that the universe is absurd.

Both Lonergan and Peterson realize our most excruciating conflicts are over meaning. Petersons emphasis on the individual causes him to neglect the power and creativity of community, while for Lonergan, common meaning constitutes community. Still, our church and world will benefit from both voices: Hearing the contemporary longings to which Peterson responds, and studying Lonergans paths to realizing the fulfillment of our deepest desires and, ultimately, our redemption.

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Jordan Peterson and Jesuit Bernard Lonergan have different takes ... - America: The Jesuit Review

Manscaped/Screeshot by Chris Matyszczyk

I'm not the man I used to be and what many a men's magazine -- and, no doubt, Dr. Jordan Peterson -- say I should be.

I'm still alright with that and roll along my way as best I can.

So I confess I don't leap on every male bandwagon, rousing the horses with a hee-haw and a giddyup.

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But I do feel an urge to mention a particular class of male-oriented gadgets that I've resisted for perhaps too long -- the personal shaving machine.

I feel sure it's a good idea. I feel slightly less sure that the way it's about to be advertised is, well, entirely edifying.

You see, I've just stumbled into a new ad for Manscaped's Beard Hedger.

Or, according to its more comprehensive Amazon description, the "MANSCAPED The Beard Hedger Premium Precision Beard Trimmer, 20 Length Adjustable Blade Wheel, Stainless Steel T-Blade for Precision Facial Hair Trimming, Cordless Waterproof Wet / Dry Clipper."

How would you present such an apparently useful product to the world?

Would you show the world's strongest men trimming their beards before competition? Would you perhaps show rows of delirious hipster men trimming their beards and claiming it improves their coffee-drinking technique and hygiene?

Or would you show a famous golfer and his son chatting about how, in dad's day, women allegedly liked men to be hirsute downstairs?

You might guess that Manscaped chose the last option. For here is golfing legend John Daly and his son, University of Arkansas golfer Little John Daly, discussing, well, dad's pubic orchard.

Dad asks his son which club he should use. Little John, for some reason, believes dad is talking about his beard and suggests dad try this little machine.

"Manscaped, huh?" The dad says. "Son, back in my day ladies loved grass in the fairways." Then he appears to be about to show his son his, well, grass.

Do I hear a ho-ho?

Look, it's not you, it's me.

You'll tell me it's perfectly normal for a dad to chat with his son about the landscaping of his nether regions. And I'll tell you that you're right, while quietly squirming.

Little John has to explain to Big John that this particular gadget is for his face, rather than beneath his belly. Then a voiceover pops up to explain this thing has 20 settings, which sounds quite marvelous.

The two stars play the ad very well. There's even a tinge of fine comic timing.

Personally, though, I find the best way to deal with my beard is to shave it off completely every ten days. That way, I look slightly different every day.

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Here, though, we're being told that a man's beard should have a consistent look -- which, should you be familiar with Big John's highly subjective daily attire, isn't usually the case for him.

Male personal grooming is a highly lucrative market -- $55 billion, it seems. This is because many men have a great need to present themselves in a very particular way. Surely you've seen at least one session of Congress to appreciate that.

But oh, dad and son talking about, you know, downstairs? That may be a little too liberal for some.

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It's a very personal gadget and personally I'm disturbed - ZDNet