Pastor Doug Wilson of Canon Press has said the Peterson phenomenon in the United States in particular, suggests North America needs a dad.
According to Wilson, Peterson’s courage, masculinity and tough-mindedness is what attracts young men especially, who today rarely see these things modelled.
“I think that’s what it boils down to. Someone who is unapologetically masculine, he’s a vertebrate, has a backbone, stands up to people and says if you throw me in jail, I’m still not going to use your pronouns.”
Wilson went on to suggest that the Peterson phenomenon also highlights a weakness in our churches today.
“The pulpit today ought to be a place that takes courage to occupy. And in most cases– they’ve got these plexiglass things to telegraph how vulnerable [they are]… you have a guy with a Mr. Rogers cardigan sweater and a stool and he chats and relates to everybody. I think the Peterson phenomena shows that that’s not what we need right now.
“What happens is, if there are any signs of some Christians getting restive and starting to show backbone the squishy, soft evangelical establishment shows that it does know how to discipline.
“Because it would be false to say that the evangelical establishment never disciplines anything — no, they discipline and come down hard on anybody who is going to head back in a different direction.”
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