Latest / Brandon Fogal Evolution / #58 - Jordan Peterson & Faith | Recent Remarks on Religion & God

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#58 - Jordan Peterson & Faith | Recent Remarks on Religion & God · Brandon Fogal Evolution

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  Jordan Peterson. We are going to be talking about Jordan Peterson this morning.
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  I don't know if you have heard of him. I'm sure you have. I mean,
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  I don't think there's any possibility you haven't heard of Jordan Peterson yet,
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  but he is a Canadian psychologist, author, and media commentator.
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  He began to receive widespread attention in the late 2010s for his views on
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  cultural and political issues, often characterized as conservative.
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  Peterson has described himself as a classical liberal and a traditionalist.
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  I'm going to give my opinion on my opinion, like my views, you know,
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  from a distance, what I think of him.
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  First of all, I'll say this. I think he's wonderful. I love Jordan Peterson.
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  I got to start it off with that. There's a lot to break down.
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  He's, he's, I think he's next level. He's next level, but we'll definitely, we'll get into it.
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  Without going any further today, this video is sponsored by HelloFresh.
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  as well as or in the description of the podcast.
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  So my name is Brandon Fogel. This is Evolution. I've wanted to do a video over
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  Jordan Peterson for a while, for a while now.
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  If I'm not if I'm watching any podcast I'm a
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  lot of times watching his as well as a podcast
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  he's he goes on to so I'm absolutely thrilled
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  to talk about him but without further
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  ado I'm gonna actually show a little clip a couple clips from his
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  video that he did on the podcast diary of
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  a CEO if you haven't checked this out you should
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  definitely go go find it it's really really good
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  it's but I would say this is almost his more like recent
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  video he's done and he gave his as blunt as
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  jordan peterson can be he gave
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  his view what he said he believed about jesus and
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  god well we'll see that clip in a second but let's actually
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  just take a look at this first you know what simple way that i can understand
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  do you believe in a man in the sky god do you believe in it's well that's not
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  as that's not as primitive there's jordan peterson right there as the atheists
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  would have you believe what is it you believe well there isn't anything more
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  complex in the known universe than a human brain.
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  So if you want to model for reality as such, like.
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  But proclaiming that it has something akin to the structure of the human psyche
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  is not an absurd claim, given that that is the most complex thing by far that we know of.
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  Okay. And then I want to show one other clip, which is this is almost if you
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  go to the link to that video is in the description as well.
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  You should definitely go check it out. I'm also always watching A Diary of a CEO.
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  It is an awesome podcast. If you have not found that one, I would definitely throw that out there.
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  You should definitely go check out that podcast. It is amazing.
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  I've watched so many of their videos.
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  Another clip I wanted to quickly show is this is probably the highlight.
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  For me, it was, and a lot of people that have talked about this video so far,
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  was this moment. Because he keeps asking Jordan.
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  Because I've seen this, and I've just watched a video with Jordan Peterson discussing
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  religious matters with Alex O'Connor recently.
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  And sometimes it can be frustrating. It can be frustrating for the podcaster,
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  the host, the interviewer that is asking Jordan.
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  So what do you believe can you break that down
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  what you're saying is it it might it
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  says one thing but like to the masses it
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  might not come across the same way that you're intending so can you kind of
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  break that down and Alex he keeps asking over and over and that was from like
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  months back probably about seven months back that he did that video but this
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  is a more recent one and on Diary of CEO he asked him point blank he says because
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  he keeps asking over and over and he he doesn't want to harp on it,
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  but he does. And he just says to Jordan point blank.
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  What do you believe about God? What does that mean to you? I'm going to ask
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  you again, because I want to be clear.
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  What is the God you believe in?
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  I think that the claim that Christ is the embodiment of the prophet and the
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  laws, I think that's true. Okay.
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  That's complicated. It's very complicated. Here it is. But I think it's true.
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  So you believe that Jesus was?
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  God? God. Yeah.
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  I think if you understand what that means, that it's indisputable.
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  All right. So there it is. And I know a lot of people have done discussions
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  over this of Jordan saying that because he gets asked that point blank.
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  He's not shy away from not saying that Jesus, he believes in Christianity or he believes in God.
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  He doesn't like being asked the question, do you believe in God?
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  Because when you're like almost talking next level with Jordan,
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  And I was thinking about this yesterday.
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  He is, he almost speaks on a level as I would hear Jesus himself speak because
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  a lot of things he's talking beyond what our mind comprehends immediately.
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  He's talking like almost on a spiritual deeper level.
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  You know, I don't know Jordan Peterson's heart. I don't know what he fundamentally
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  believes, but based on his words, I would, I would say he's a Christian.
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  I, I, I mean, and I, that's the thing. I don't like, like being labeled something either.
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  I mean, I'll be labeled Christian all day long. I would definitely take that
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  with a badge of honor, but I know he doesn't like to be, people don't want to
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  be put in a box and say, you're on my team.
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  You're on my, we got this guy, we got this guy, you know, and he,
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  it's just becomes this litmus test, whether you are on my side or not.
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  And I don't think in Jordan Peterson, he, he, he always is pushing back against that. And rightly so.
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  I understand that. You don't want to be just reduced to that and that's all
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  you are. But he gets asked point blank.
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  So you believe Jesus is God and he says.
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  Yeah. And I think it's indisputable. And I, the video I was watching yesterday
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  with him and Alex O'Connor,
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  Alex was asking him things and he like, it's hard to even like pin him down
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  on his views sometimes because he is talking on deeper, more transcendent levels.
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  It seems like his way of thinking is just so like layer upon layer.
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  And it's like, how do you get down to underneath the surface of the core of what it is.
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  You know, I think sometimes, do we even know ourselves?
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  Do we even know ourselves? And can we even put ourselves on the bed and let
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  us analyze our own mind, analyze our own heart? What do we really believe? What are we thinking?
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  I think we can, to an extent, we can't do it perfectly.
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  And Jordan, I don't know what he would say on some fundamental issues,
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  like fundamental things about Christianity, about God, you know?
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  He's made it clear that he is, he believes that Jesus is God.
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  We just heard it right there.
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  He, and it's indisputable, but there's a lot there. And he'll always say,
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  well, and what does that mean?
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  What does that mean? And for him, it's hard to even just really dial it down
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  and really understand what he means by that. Cause words have meaning.
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  Words definitely have meaning and they convey thoughts and they're trying to
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  convey what's in my mind.
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  So I can grasp what's in yours so that we can be speaking the same language.
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  I want to know what you understand on this issue. And you can understand what I mean.
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  But sometimes it's tough. It's definitely tough. And when he says that Jesus
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  is God, that is indisputable.
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  First of all, amen. Heck yes. And there's a lot of, a lot of things when you're
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  going on the, on the stage, as opposed to just being one-on-one with someone.
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  It's just, I mean, you're not, you're not even being recorded.
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  You're just one-on-one, maybe in the privacy of your home with your wife,
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  your children, and you're sharing your,
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  what you believe, what you believe about this universe, what you believe about
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  God himself, what you believe about yourself.
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  And you're just, it is so easy to put up walls.
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  It is so easy to put up defense mechanisms because a lot of times,
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  and I found myself doing this, I don't want to go there in the recesses of my
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  mind. I want some things.
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  I don't want to entertain the thought of some things.
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  I want to just live life.
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  I want to not be thinking about things that have real consequences and my actions
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  have real consequences. is I want to just fundamentally just put on Netflix.
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  You know, scroll through my phone.
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  I want to mentally check out, not be in this, in this world,
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  because when we get down to hard, real issues, sometimes it can make you squirm.
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  And sometimes I don't even myself want to put myself out there because I don't
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  want to be even thinking about like some of those things.
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  It's much easier and much funner just to throw on another show of Office or
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  Friends and just let's just check out. You know, let's not think about like
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  this world is real and what's, what's beyond this world.
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  What's going to happen when we take our final breath. I mean,
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  just thinking about that is kind of like, it's, it's very tough.
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  You know, death is the greatest adventure.
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  Great is the greatest adventure. We are all going to experience someday.
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  So it's like, it's tough when you actually think about it.
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  I mean, it's, it's, that's why some, sometimes dark humor is the only release.
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  It's fun to just say, I don't know, you know, and just laugh about it because
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  that's all the only thing we can actually do.
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  Because when we think about it, it can be very heavy, very heavy.
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  And I don't know if with Jordan Peterson, I don't know if that is what's happening sometimes.
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  I mean, of course, he's got language, vocabulary, thoughts, you know,
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  that are next level that are speaking, like I said, like Jesus,
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  because when Jesus spoke to his apostles, they're was not understanding what he was meaning.
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  They didn't get it over and over. They did not understand what Jesus was saying
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  when he was saying the things he did. And he was like over and over saying.
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  Are you still so dull? Like you, you don't understand what I'm clearly communicating.
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  And I, I, I get the apostles.
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  I would have been the same way. I would have been, Jesus, you're the son of God.
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  You are, you know, you are.
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  And what all that means, all we know is, you know, how to say peace and be still
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  to the waves of the sea and they, they obey you.
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  That's pretty crazy. We are like, so Jesus, you came from God.
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  We believe that. So it's like, just that we don't understand everything immediately.
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  I mean, there's got to be grace in that.
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  And I think he definitely does. But a lot of his chiding the apostles of their
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  lack of understanding was almost like, so it could be recorded,
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  so that it could show that these apostles weren't supermen themselves.
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  They were regular guys like you and like me.
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  It shows the humanity of them, of how, like, we would have been the same way.
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  We would have been the same way.
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  So Jordan Peterson speaking on these next levels, does he not want to go there sometimes?
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  Does he feel like he doesn't want to go there and he doesn't?
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  There is an element of that because in just in human psychology,
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  in human, just the human brain, we don't want to, we want to block out things
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  that we don't want to think about.
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  We want to push back because, and you've seen, if you've seen videos of Jordan
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  Peterson, I mean, him breaking down, like talking about with, with Christ.
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  And there is a progression in any person's life of coming closer and closer to the light.
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  And once you get closer and closer to the light, things can heat up. Things can be exposed.
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  Things can be, have to be turned away from and let go and go forward.
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  And that's where it gets very tough because you never know if someone's heart,
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  like, because there's always something holding us back from letting go and,
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  and clinging to Christ. Cause we can't fully cling to Christ.
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  We can't hold something in our hand and try to grab everything we can on Jesus.
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  We have to let everything go, everything jump in.
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  I mean, Jesus says to a rich man, sell all your possessions,
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  give it to the poor. And what do you think that rich person does?
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  He runs and sells all his possessions. No, he goes away sad.
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  And that's not to say that every person is supposed to sell everything,
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  but in a real fundamental sense, yeah, every person is supposed to sell everything.
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  That might not mean materially, like selling all your possessions,
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  but your heart has to let go of everything.
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  And if money, if prestige, if like your influence and you're scared that you're
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  going to lose a following.
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  You're scared that other people are going to look at you differently if you step out for Christ.
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  You might have to let that go.
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  Because there's always something. Is there something in your mind and in your
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  heart that immediately, I got this one thing.
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  I got this one thing and I can't let go of it.
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  That's probably like the rich man money was and possessions.
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  That might be it for you. And that, and it was for me and it still is daily. It's for me.
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  There's always something I got to let go. And there's always the conviction that comes.
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  And that's where I found that like people that are, that are,
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  they're atheists. Cause I love listening to people that are atheists.
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  And I've, I've found listening to them.
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  And I think this goes with anybody that anyone that, that struggles with what they believe.
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  And like, because if you got to constantly reinforce it and you got to just
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  berate people over the head with what you believe.
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  It's probably a defense mechanism in yourself that you have to just continue
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  just to throw fuel on the fire. So you believe it yourself.
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  And I think I, this goes with Christians as well. This goes with me as well.
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  And certain things, cause I've had in my life, you know, and if I don't feel
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  like I understand and got it right and I, and I'm throwing up a defense mechanism,
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  if there's a lack of confidence, I will try to push that on other people.
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  And I don't know what it is. We just, because I did come out of things that like that were not.
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  A part of Christ. And at a time when I was deceived, but I kept pushing it on
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  other people because it was a lack of confidence in myself.
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  Like, I just, I don't know if what I'm believing is right.
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  So I got, I got to make, push it on them. I got to push it on them.
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  Like almost let them be my testing area.
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  And if they're, if, if other people are believing it, that's reinforcing what
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  I believe. And if they're not, that's scary.
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  Am I living a lie? Am I following a lie?
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  And I say this about atheists because just watching Alex O'Connor,
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  because I love Alex O'Connor.
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  There's nothing I'm watching more than Alex O'Connor, but he's always going
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  out and picking through the Christian faith in a lot of ways.
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  And there's got to be something more there that is driving that.
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  Because when we really throw away all the covers and we see what's bare bones
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  underneath, like, what is your own faith?
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  What is your own worldview? you? Why do you feel like you need to push your
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  own faith or your own beliefs, your own understanding of this world on everybody else?
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  Why do you have to continue to reinforce that?
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  Is it because you lack something confidence in what you really believe?
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  Because I mean, there is a difference with Christianity.
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  Jesus said, go and spread the gospel. But there was no atheist Jesus saying,
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  go and spread atheism or agnosticism or belief that there is no God.
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  So there is a difference there.
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  And I think a lot of times Christians are reluctant to share their faith because,
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  it's not as well received.
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  It's not that well received. When you start talking about things that are going
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  to be of eternal consequence, it's not always going to be the life of the party.
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  It's not always going to be the brightest thing in the room.
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  So it's tough. But as a Christian, you have to continue to move forward.
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  Anyways, this video was mainly about Jordan Peterson. There's a lot there.
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  Him saying that he believes that Jesus is God, him openly saying it,
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  he just said it straight out and he had to be asked it a couple of times.
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  He's definitely got some major influence and the way that he's going to live
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  out the rest of his life, live out the rest of his time and use his platform.
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  And I think there's not many people that are doing a greater job and just basically
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  talking about bringing up the conversation of the Bible and Jesus getting people
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  to think, but he's got it.
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  You know, there is a sense you got to completely dive in and be sold out,
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  you know, and maybe, maybe he's thinking next level.
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  Maybe he's thinking next level beyond what I can comprehend.
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  So we'll leave it at that. Peace, everyone.