Why DCP’s Proposed Beatitudes Book is Problematic
Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2023 1:59 am
I noticed that, on “SeN”, Dr. Peterson has proposed yet another book project that he likely will never finish. (Why not focus on the anti-CoC film project, one wonders?) On the one hand, I wish him luck—he has a terrible track record when it comes to finishing book projects. No doubt trying to write them via blogging is a bad idea.
But I would like to suggest that there is a deeper reason why (a) this Beatitudes book is a lousy idea, and (b) why DCP struggles to complete book projects. Simply put, he’s “cursed.” For starters, he is about the last person on earth who has the standing to write a book about the beatitudes—I mean, Jesus. This is like asking Aaron Rodgers to write a book about the efficacy of vaccines. Dr. Peterson has been *horrible* to literally hundreds of people over the past several decades, and the evidence for it is all over the Internet.
Start with SHIELDS, for example. You have him trashing James White, and belittling and ridiculing all sorts of people, and with him with his fancy PhD behaving like a snotty elementary school student. There is his email to Gerald Bradford and his various FARMS articles. There is his significant editorial work—the John Dehlin “hit piece” and the Grant Palmer pile-up being merely two examples among many.
So, is this really a person you would trust to interpret *the beatitudes* in a meaningful way? Is this a kind, contrite, Christian person? And I get that Dr. Peterson is a flawed person who struggles the same as all of us. But he doesn’t apologize for *anything*, ever. He’s never admitted wrongdoing (except when he posted the lynching photos), and he has never made any effort to, e.g., have those crappy emails removed from SHIELDS.
And the thing is: if he did this and led the way, others would do likewise. If he came out and said, “You know what? I disagree with Jonathan Neville, and even though I haven’t read anything he’s written, I recognize that he is a fellow Latter-day Saint and want to treat him with kindness,” then what do you suppose that Steve Smoot would do in terms of his racist act at the “Neville-Neville Land” blog? What would the FAIR Mormon folks do?
This, fundamentally, is why DCP can’t finish books. It’s not a matter of energy or will power or talent. It’s a matter of refusing to do the right thing and to make amends. So long as he continues to pretend that his behavior hasn’t hurt people, he will never finish another book.
But I would like to suggest that there is a deeper reason why (a) this Beatitudes book is a lousy idea, and (b) why DCP struggles to complete book projects. Simply put, he’s “cursed.” For starters, he is about the last person on earth who has the standing to write a book about the beatitudes—I mean, Jesus. This is like asking Aaron Rodgers to write a book about the efficacy of vaccines. Dr. Peterson has been *horrible* to literally hundreds of people over the past several decades, and the evidence for it is all over the Internet.
Start with SHIELDS, for example. You have him trashing James White, and belittling and ridiculing all sorts of people, and with him with his fancy PhD behaving like a snotty elementary school student. There is his email to Gerald Bradford and his various FARMS articles. There is his significant editorial work—the John Dehlin “hit piece” and the Grant Palmer pile-up being merely two examples among many.
So, is this really a person you would trust to interpret *the beatitudes* in a meaningful way? Is this a kind, contrite, Christian person? And I get that Dr. Peterson is a flawed person who struggles the same as all of us. But he doesn’t apologize for *anything*, ever. He’s never admitted wrongdoing (except when he posted the lynching photos), and he has never made any effort to, e.g., have those crappy emails removed from SHIELDS.
And the thing is: if he did this and led the way, others would do likewise. If he came out and said, “You know what? I disagree with Jonathan Neville, and even though I haven’t read anything he’s written, I recognize that he is a fellow Latter-day Saint and want to treat him with kindness,” then what do you suppose that Steve Smoot would do in terms of his racist act at the “Neville-Neville Land” blog? What would the FAIR Mormon folks do?
This, fundamentally, is why DCP can’t finish books. It’s not a matter of energy or will power or talent. It’s a matter of refusing to do the right thing and to make amends. So long as he continues to pretend that his behavior hasn’t hurt people, he will never finish another book.