Beck and Peterson

I am taking notes on a short, three-minute video of Glenn Beck interviewing Jordan Peterson. It was today, May 7th, at 710pm that Beck posted it to the internet. Its title: "Jordan Peterson: Why Staying Silent is WORSE Than Facing the Woke Mob. Author and cultural firebrand Jordan Peterson is no stranger to cancel culture. Ever since he was thrust into the culture war, he has faced one controversy after another, stirred up by the woke elites who hate him with a passion. But although they have tried to make him pay for speaking out so fearlessly against their message, he refuses to back down--and he believes you should too. This week on the Glenn Beck Podcast, he explains why . . ." My response: Glenn, Jordan and I all agree that when confronted by evil, evil people and bullies, one must take a stand right now, every time and push back hard against them. God put us in this world to be spiritually and morally good, and to fight on the side of justice, divine and earthly. That is our duty: we do our duty, no matter the consequences. This is what Jordan has been doing by example, and the cancel culture mob howls at him, but he, a man of goodness and courage, has not backed off an inch. Glenn wants to remind you that Jordan's is an example that each of us should follow in our own way. When good people do not confront evil in this world, it spreads. You can and must make the difference and hold the line, or even push them back into retreat. Let me quote Jordan: "It is attractive to localize malevolence externally--it lets you off the hook. If you identify malevolence, then whatever you want to do is justified so your worst impulses have free reign. This extermination of wickedness from the earth is for the sake of an eventual utopia. You have carte blanche for your worst motivations, and that is dangerous." Beck: "You become that which you despise." My response: "By localizing malevolence externally, you do not have to admit that you are a sinner, that you are contributing to the societal state of malevolence through omission or commission. If you clean yourself up and then speak out against malevolence, you have accepted responsibility for your duty to make the world a better place, and to fight evil directly to keep the world from becoming a worse place. Another extreme is to excoriate malevolence as some ideology or cause out there to be wiped out and exterminated by any means possible. This overreaction may make you so vicious that the cure is worse than the disease. Let me quote Glenn Beck: "People are locked in bitter tribal quarrels with no ability to adjust their position to work with their opponents. The myth of the reluctant hero applies to most people. Most people are not heroic and believe that they do not have what it takes. They are just standing around, following the crowd. How do we get people to take a stand like you do, Jordan, and you have taken a severe, repeated being for speaking out? Why is it worth it?" My response: Beck lays out the need for average people to stand and speak out however reluctant these heroes initially are. Let Peterson's courageous public stances inspire them to say now and stand out. Let me quote Jordan: "I do not believe in deferred punishment, let it come to me immediately and fight now to keep the future clear. It will only get worse if I do not frontally confront the malevolence. Fight now and early when there is a chance of victory. My response: Jordan is spot on--so rise up and speak out heroically as he had repeatedly demonstrated.