“Do not carelessly denigrate social institutions or creative achievement.” – Jordan Peterson
"Our
Saviour... has taught us to judge the tree by its fruit, and to leave motives
to Him who can alone sees into them."
--Thomas Jefferson
"Moral
duties [are] as obligatory on nations as on individuals." --Thomas Jefferson
“We hold these
truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
--Thomas Jefferson
I am currently reading both ‘Beyond Order’
by Jordan Peterson and Morality by the late Rabbi Jonathan Sacks.
In these books they both address, to
some degree, the very serious malady that has befallen the Western World over
the last 18 months and that has resulted in tyranny being imposed on us by politicians
and law enforcement to a degree very few could ever have predicted.
I have read, and was most impressed with
Peterson’s 12 Rules, as well as watching a few of his viral videos. I have also
read a few of Rabbi Sacks books as well as a great many of his articles, especially
his incredibly insightful commentaries on the weekly Torah Portions.
As my religious perspectives are much
closer to Sacks than Peterson, I would have expected to find greater agreement
with Rabbi Sacks’ arguments about the current tyrannical circumstances we find
ourselves in, than with Jordan Peterson, yet on this specific issue, I am
finding Peterson much more insightful and accurate in both his understanding of
the causes as well as his perspectives on possible future directions.
While I was somewhat aware of Rabbi Sacks
being more liberal and Leftist than conservative (as is common amongst Reformed
and non-orthodox Jews) to my serious disappointment he seems to think that the
solution is to give up our freedoms, our liberty and moral foundations for the ‘common
good’. See my article on Covid Ethics where I address some of the problems with
this approach[1].
So where does Peterson stand?
To start with he makes an insightful
comment that we can learn much from stories, from narratives, as we can apply
the lessons learned from considering them to other situations and
circumstances. Of course, as I am sure Rabbi Sacks would have agreed, this is a
most significant factor in the power of the Tanakh as it is mostly narratives.
But Peterson also sees a society based
on individual morals and ethical behaviour resulting in the common good, rather
than being subservient to it.
He argues that in community, in nation
building, we need to keep two things in tension if we are living an ethical and
moral life. Be conservative in obeying societies rules, but also being able
to reject those rules.
He speaks of “… respect for the rules, except when following
those rule means disregarding or ignoring or remaining blind to an even higher
moral principle.”.
He argues that there is a tension
between respect for tradition and the necessity for creative transformation.
And he refers to two interesting
narratives in the Gospels to argue that Yeshua demonstrated this approach.
The first one he refers to is the
story of Yeshua as a boy of 12 spending time with the bible scholars in the
Temple in Jerusalem during the annual pilgrimage for Pesach (Passover). Yeshua
was learning in the Temple and his parents left in a large family group to
return home and didn’t realise he was not on the journey with them. While there
is a lot more to this story, the point that Peterson is making is that Yeshua
was following along with the traditions of his family and People, but saw the
sharing and discussing of Biblical matters in the Temple as more important that
making sure he was with his family when it came time to return home.
Peterson is arguing that Yeshua
priortised the learning of Torah over family rules.
I think a better example is where
Yeshua was accused of breaking the rules when he healed someone on the Sabbath.
Here’s an explanation of this story from my book ‘Doctrinal Pitfalls of
Hellenism”:
“…
Luke 13:14 "but the President of the synagogue, indignant that Yeshua had
healed on Shabbat, spoke up and said to the congregation, "there are six
days in the week for working; so come during those days to be healed, not on
Shabbat!"
Again,
Yeshua did not sin, he did not violate the Sabbath. Rather, he explains how
healing the whole man is just as acceptable on the Sabbath as circumcising the
8 day old baby boy.
Yeshua here is both
condoning a practice that had developed and expanding it in an intriguing way.
The practice had been developed that if a boy’s 8th day from birth
was the Sabbath, the person (a ‘mohel’) performing the circumcision was allowed
to break the Sabbath by carrying the tools required through the village and
performing the ritual. It was considered that when this conflict between the
requirements of observing the Sabbath and of circumcising a male child on the 8th
day were in conflict the circumcision took precedence. If however the child was
ill on his 8th day since birth (which say was the Wednesday) and he
was not well until the Saturday, the Sabbath, the ruling was that now, the
Sabbath took precedence and so the circumcision would not be performed until a
later day.
Yeshua by his comments
appears to condone this approach to the potential conflict between these
mitzvot (commandments). However, Yeshua also argues that, given this ruling,
why should he be condemned for healing the whole man on the Sabbath. The clear
understanding being that circumcision was a form of healing (not only a token
or marker but a positive commandment), perhaps primarily because it was a mark
of entry into the family/tribe of Israel.”
In arguing that this approach is how we make
progress and yet keep a moral society free and democratic, Peterson writes “…
Thus, we need to bear the paradox that is involved in simultaneously respecting
the walls that keep us safe and allowing in enough of what is new and changing
so that our institutions remain alive and healthy. …”.
“Do not carelessly denigrate social
institutions or creative achievement.” – Jordan Peterson
So, all who are to some degree conservatives,
but especially have strong moral and ethical principles would do wise in my
opinion to read Jordan Peterson’s books, both his 12 Rules and ‘Beyond Order-
12 More Rules of Life”.
The great Thomas Jefferson argued that
without morality, liberty will die.
I think that if we don’t stand for morality
and ethical behaviour and against tyranny, we may very soon descend into the
darkness that has enveloped Lithuania already[2]!
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