Crossing the Jordan: An Extended Book Review/Reflection of Jordan Peterson’s “12 Rules for Life” (Part 1)

Now that summer is coming to a close, my son will soon be back in school and I will be getting back into my routine as an adjunct instructor at my local university, as well as to being able to get back to writing on my blog with a bit more consistency again. In addition to that, I want to give a brief announcement that I will soon be opening up a Patreon account. If you don’t know what that is, here is a link that explains it. Basically, I will announcing some book/curriculum projects that I will be working on in the upcoming year or two, and I will be asking anyone who is interested to possibly help “contribute to the cause” so to speak.

I will be rolling that out in the next two weeks, so stay tuned.

Yes, I’m Going to Write About Jordan Peterson
This post, though, is the first one of what will be my next extended book review/analysis series. Yes, I am going to take you through Jordan Peterson’s book, Twelve Rules for Life: An Antidote for Chaos.

Chances are you’ve heard of Jordan Peterson, because over the past two years he has been possibly one of the most controversial and polarizing figures in our culture today (perhaps only beaten out by President Trump). Peterson has a devoted and growing following in conservative circles and is absolutely vilified in progressive circles. A professor of psychology at the University of Toronto, he rose to popularity a couple of years ago when he spoke out against a Canadian bill that, in his opinion, amounted to compelled speech in regard to addressing transgendered people by their preferred pronoun.

That is an entirely complex and controversial topic that I am not going to address in these upcoming posts, but needless to say, Peterson is no fan of what he calls the “radical Left.” And for their part, many progressives have, in turn, accused him of being everything from a white supremacist and alt-right supporter to a misogynist, homophobe and transphobe. Now, in all honesty, I don’t think he is any of those things—but in this current culture of toxic discourse and over-charged, inflammatory language the floods social media, “hyperbole on acid” seems to be par for the course. We can’t just disagree and debate; we must vilify and demonize anyone who doesn’t share our political views.

In any case, over the course of these past two years, I started seeing more and more videos of Peterson popping up on my Facebook and Twitter accounts. And, despite being told by some that this man was the scourge of humanity, I found him to be rather interesting. On top of that, my dad told me about a really interesting lecture series he had given about analyzing characters from the Old Testament.

And so, when Peterson’s book came out earlier this year, I decided to buy it and give it a read. And I’ll have to be honest, I thought it was a really good book. Most of it really wasn’t about any of the current political controversies at all. It is simply a book about how to find meaning in your life in light of the inevitable suffering you will experience in your life. My life has been turned upside down on a whole number of levels over these past ten years. I certainly have experienced my share of pain, suffering, and betrayal, and I still am working through a lot of it. I am by no means fully healed—and honestly, I doubt I ever will be. But Peterson’s book was deeply challenging and clarifying for me in a lot of ways.

Now, I am well aware that many who read this might have already decided Peterson is some horrible devil. I’m also well aware that Peterson has been described by his admirers as “the most influential academic/philosopher” in today’s culture. I don’t care for either description. Instead, I am reminded of the words of the medieval monk Thomas A’ Kempis, when he wrote: “Do not be influenced by the importance of the writer, and whether his learning be great or small. But let the love of pure truth draw you to read. Do not inquire, ‘Who said this?’ but pay attention to what is said.”

In light of that, what I hope to accomplish in this book review series isn’t simply a review of the book. I want to also share my personal reflections about some of the sufferings in my own life, and how Peterson’s book has helped me start to piece my life back together. Simply put, I don’t care about your political views. By and large, Peterson’s book really isn’t politics at all. Its focus is on finding meaning in one’s life in the midst of the inevitable sufferings of life. Therefore, if you have experienced deep hurt and suffering. and are struggling to find a way to pick of the pieces of your life, I think there is a lot of wisdom you can use in Twelve Rules for Life: An Antidote for Chaos.

Greg Boyd on Jordan Peterson
Interestingly enough, it just so happens that progressive theologian and pastor Greg Boyd is also in the midst of writing his own review of Peterson’s book. (Ironically, it was my dad who had told me about Greg Boyd as well). About a month ago, Boyd had tweeted that he was in the midst of reading Peterson’s book, and was finding it to be rather stimulating and insightful. Not surprisingly, that tweet received quite a lot of comments, most along the lines of, “Watch out! Jordan Peterson is… (fill the in blank)!”

And so, when Boyd announced he was going to write a number of posts on Peterson’s book, I really was interested to hear what a respected, progressive theologian who had already said that although he didn’t agree with everything, he nevertheless found the book quite good was going to say. Thus far, though (he is currently at post #6 in his series), I have to say that I’ve been somewhat disappointed. The two takeaways I’ve gotten from his analysis of the book are essentially these:

(A) I feel he is going out of his way to placate his (admittedly) more progressive audience by repeatedly reassuring them, “Hey, I’m one of you! I’m appalled at some of the things Peterson has said!” Simply put, his posts strike me as afraid to ever come out and say anything positive about the book. I mean, for being someone who had said he found the book insightful and good, I expected Boyd would have gotten around to discussing some of those insightful things by post #6.

(B) Most significantly, though, I’ve just been disappointed in the way he has gone about analyzing the book. Simply put, his review has struck me as just too academic and cold. Peterson’s book is intensely personal, in that it’s focus is on dealing with real, personal struggles. Boyd’s analysis comes across as a detached critique of a philosophical treatise. Simply put, I find myself getting bored half way through each post. And that is too bad, because Peterson’s book is anything but boring.

I’m hoping Boyd’s upcoming posts get a whole better.

Conclusion to this Introduction
And so, this book review series might be attempting to do the impossible, given how polarizing Peterson tends to be. Nevertheless, I’m going to try to keep my focus simple: whether you are more of the progressive-type who has been told that Jordan Peterson is the reincarnation of Joseph Goebbels, or whether you are such a fan of Peterson that you see him as the second coming of Moses, and you proudly wear your “lobster shirt” (if you don’t know what that means, it will be explained in a few posts)—I’m going to ask you to just put those ideas off to the side for a bit.

I am someone who has seen much of his life get blown to pieces over the past few years and who is still trying to put those pieces back together. And trust me, that’s really hard to do, because some pieces are gone, and others are heavily damaged. Peterson’s book has helped me in a lot of ways. Like I said at the beginning: it’s a good book. All I want to do is share some of the things from his book that I have learned and have been challenged by. In that sense, this series will be part review and part personal reflection.

And hopefully, it will generate some thoughtful discussion.