Reports out of New Zealand assert that following the horrific massacre in Christchurch in which a white supremacist murdered 50 Muslims at a mosque, Whitcoulls, a major national bookstore, banned famed psychologist Jordan Peterson’s best selling “12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos.” Stuff reports, “A staff member at Whitcoulls in Albany said it was not available in any stores around the country. She did not know whether that was a permanent move. A search for the book on the chain’s website does not return any hits.”
NewsHub reports that in an email responding to queries about the book, the outlet stated:
Unfortunately 12 Rules for Life is currently unavailable, which is a decision that Whitcoulls has made in light of some extremely disturbing material being circulated prior, during and after the Christchurch attacks. As a business which takes our responsibilities to our communities very seriously, we believe it would be wrong to support the author at this time. Apologies that we’re not able to sell it to you, but we appreciate your understanding.
Speaking to NewsHub, ACT (Association of Consumers and Taxpayers) Party leader David Seymour slammed Whitcoulls, saying, “You don’t fight neo-Nazism by suppressing reading and books. Anyone who knows any history knows that’s the opposite of how you fight these kind of ideas. A self-help book is an incredibly strange thing to suppress. I think Whitcoulls have made the wrong decision, but I respect they’re a private company, it’s their right.”
Peterson was photographed during his speaking tour in New Zealand with his arm around an apparent fan wearing a shirt emblazoned “I’m a proud Islamaphobe.” That prompted criticism of Peterson, but Peterson would obviously condemn the attack in New Zealand; he stated in “12 Rules for Life,” “Intolerance of others’ views (no matter how ignorant or incoherent they may be) is not simply wrong; in a world where there is no right or wrong, it is worse: it is a sign you are embarrassingly unsophisticated or, possibly, dangerous.”
Or try this quote from him:
Imagine you are offered a choice, because you ARE offered this choice; You could say well absolutely nothing you do matters and who the hell’s gonna know anyways in a million years, and so you can do whatever you want moment to moment… and you’ll not be held responsible by anyone including yourself for pursuing your petty, impulsive, immoral, foolish, destructive, genocidal tendencies. Or the alternative is that you can assume that everything you do is meaningful and everything you do has an impact on the way the world unfolds, and take responsibility for that and you’ll have your meaning alright, that’s for sure.
In reportedly banning Peterson’s book, the bookstore is inhibiting dialogue, of which Peterson would certainly disapprove; he has said:
Life is suffering
Love is the desire to see unnecessary suffering ameliorated
Truth is the handmaiden of love
Dialogue is the pathway to truth
Humility is recognition of personal insufficiency and the willingness to learn
To learn is to die voluntarily and be born again, in great ways and small
So speech must be untrammeled
So that dialogue can take place
So that we can all humbly learn
So that truth can serve love
So that suffering can be ameliorated
So that we can all stumble forward to the Kingdom of God
Whitcoulls still offers Adolph Hitler’s “Mein Kampf.”