Reaffirming his belief in sexual differences, Jordan Peterson has encouraged young women to embrace the “adventure” of motherhood.
As reported by LifeSiteNews, the famous psychologist told Bishop Robert Barron that women should reject the negative pressure imposed upon them by the broader culture that says children kill their dreams – not to mention their insistence that more children will lead to environmental damage by way of climate change.
“There’s a serious conversation to be had with young women. A woman asked me a question on my Q&A this month. She said that her friends are really down on her,” Peterson began. “She claims to not be a feminist, but even more importantly, because she wants to have children. And they’re telling her that only an evil and cruel person would bring a child into a world this terrible, and worse, [they tell her about] the damage to the planet that that child will inevitably do. And people are very serious about this. And they are very hard on young women.”
In response, Peterson recalled a classical piece of Western art: the “Pieta” by Michelangelo, in which the Virgin Mary is seen cradling the body of her dead son, Jesus Christ. Peterson likened this to the self-sacrifice inherent in motherhood and the bravery of women who forge ahead to embrace it despite knowing the pain it will bring about.
“I always think of the Pieta because I kind of think of it as the Christian equivalent of the crucifix — you know, you have Mary there with her broken son in her arms,” said Peterson. “And I think that the great adventure for women — at least in part, this is the maternal adventure — is to bring a child into the world, knowing full well the consequence is crucifixion-like brokenness.”
He continued, “And that it’s still a mark of faith in the possibilities of being [existence], to participate in that and not to hide from it and to say: ‘Well, despite everything, I’m going to act out my faith in life and in the possibilities of being and I’m going to bring someone into the world who will be a net force for good rather than evil. And that’s my moral obligation.'”
Peterson concluded that the stigma against motherhood imposed upon young women by modern feminists can and should be overcome by characterizing it as the “maternal adventure.”
“I think to present that to young women as a major part of the adventure of their life, which is certainly the truth, is something that is attractive to far more of them than would be likely to admit it in today’s time and age,” he concluded.
Of course, Peterson will likely be portrayed as a patriarchal alt-righter for espousing these views, as he was in a New York Times hit piece in May of last year. That unfair portrayal of Peterson was later outdone over at Google, where a leaked internal document accused him of sending out “Nazi dog whistles.”