Category Archives: Jordan Peterson

Welcome to the first full day of Spring!

And we start off Spring with a burst of sunshine. Its World Down Syndrome Day, and our own Tom Sileo shares the celebration of life and the latest on his amazing daughter Natalie.

and has done a dazzling job rallying his people against long odds to hold off the Russian invasion of Ukraine. And his mastery of public messaging will be studied for years. But before we go dubbing Volodymyr Zelensky the next Winston Churchill or St. Patrick, as Bono did last week perhaps we ought to tap the brakes a bit on the fan-boying.

On Sunday, Zelensky signed a decree that combines all national TV channels into one platform, citing the importance of a unified information policy under martial law. In other words, Ukraine television is now state-run TV. Not that hed be getting much pushback anyway. He banned three opposition stations last year.

He has also just banned Ukraines main opposition party and many others for the period of martial law. As Bradford File noted on Twitter, good thing were sending him billions and moving troops that direction to save Democracy.

Sure, Putin has clamped down on media that go against the party line, and political opposition, and the West is outraged. Zelensky does it, lets build him a statue! Read aloud poems in his honor. Watch his sitcom on Netflix.

Of course, the criminalization of dissent is not exactly something the Biden administration is against. Hello, J6 prisoners. But for the rest of us, we must be cautious in celebrating someone so eager to throw away basic human rights. And again. Zelenskys clampdowns started long before Putin came across his border.

What good is it to repel Putin if youre going to turn into Putin?

Meanwhile, Zelensky was on CNN Sunday morning, stating hes ready for negotiations once again with Putin. Im ready for negotiations with him. I was ready for the last two years. And I think that without negotiations we cannot end this war. Zelensky warned that if negotiations fail that would mean that this is a third World War.

The threat must be real. Joe Biden evacuated to a bunker in West Virginia. No wait. Thats not it. He spent another weekend of leisure at his beach mansion in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Got in a nice bike ride yesterday.

Anyone can be governor of Georgia as Brian Kemp has proven but to be on Star Trek? Score one for gubernatorial candidate and Hollywood fav Stacey Abrams. Abrams popped up Thursday night on Star Trek: Discovery as President of United Earth. Sure, shes no Dame Judi Dench. She looked more like a kid at a candy store than a planetary leader.

And the shows blatant political partisan opportunism is a stain on the Star Trek legacy. Still, a Star Trek cameo is a Star Trek cameo, no matter how wretched her politics or acting chops.

Abrams had previously done an episode of Blackish. Still shes far behind Donald Trump, who has 26 TV and film credits to his name on IMDB. Younger folks wont remember, but Hollywood adored Trump right up until he announced he was running for President.

On Twitter, liberals are mocking conservatives who are griping about the cameo. Heres the difference. No conservative is asking for Abrams to be cut from the episode. Remember the effort to try and cut Trump out of Home Alone 2?

Speaking of politicians and bad acting

AOCs picked up Joe Bidens weird habit of whispering. In a creepy video posted last week, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez used a whisper to condemn capitalism and celebrate socialism.

Let me tell you a secret, AOC whispered to her adoring flock. Most people dont really know what capitalism is. Most people dont even know what socialism is. But most people are not capitalists, because they dont have capitalist money. Theyre not billionaires.

Soak in the ridiculousness of that statement.

Let me tell you a little secret, AOC. You do need to whisper out of respect for the 100 million murdered by socialism in the 20th Century.

The Republicans have found a clever way to boost their fortunes. Holding voter registration drives at gas stations to grab those incensed by high gasoline prices. RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel announced the initiative Saturday.

Seems they pinched the idea from Scott Pressler, whos already been tweeting about registering new voters at filling stations for a couple weeks now.

The Big Brother social media giant has again suspended the Babylon Bee, according to that satire sites CEO Seth Dillon.

The offending tweet seems to be The Babylon Bees Man of the Year is Rachel Levine. Rachel Levine, the Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Service, is biologically male and was just named a USA Today Woman of the Year.

The Bee also just published a list of its Women of the Year if I describe it, I spoil the joke.

Twitter said it would remove the lock 12 hours after the offending tweet is deleted.

Annemarie McLean returns with a look at a new report that questions whether mRNA vaccines can alter human DNA. Will conspiracy theorists once again be proven right?

Tom Gilson offers an intense, powerful Jordan Peterson Knows the Fear of God.

Al Perrotta is the Managing Editor of The Stream, chief barista for The Brew and co-author, with John Zmirak, of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration. You can follow him at @StreamingAl at GETTR, Gab, Parler, and real soon at TRUTH Social.

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The Brew: Planet Earth Has a New President, Zelensky Makes Some Putin-esque Moves, and Why is AOC Whispering? - The Stream

Today Israel is that different country. Not the progressive, cosmopolitan land. Not the country where people post pictures of coffee shops, bars, malls, and office buildings to show that were just like everywhere else.

Today we are the strange and mysterious Land of the Jews. The place where things are NOT like anywhere else in the world.

Rabbi Chaim Kanievskys funeral is to be held today. At 94 years old, it is not strange that he died but for all those who considered him the Minister of Torah, it is still a shock. Who will continue in his stead?

The title was not an official one but rather the result of deep admiration for his knowledge and wisdom. Minister of Torah signifies that he is of the same importance as the Ministers of the Israeli government only in the eyes of his followers, his field of expertise, Torah, Jewish wisdom is much more important.

Today is a day of different values. Very different from those who value Israels winners of the Eurovision because they popularize us in Europe. Very different even from those who admire Israels assistance to Ukrainian refugees because it is important to be (or show?) that we are good. Today Israelis honor the values of learning, wisdom, and modesty.

Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky spent most of his time in a tiny apartment, studying ancient Jewish texts.Every year he would study the Babylonian Talmud a process that regular scholars of the holy texts complete over seven and a half years by learning one page a day.

Children, grown-ups, and politicians all crowded into his tiny apartment to ask for his advice and his blessing.

From a secular perspective this admiration of crumpled old man, pouring over the same ancient texts year after is, well weird. The texts dont change, what learning can be provided from reading the same thing over and over? How can text thousands of years old be used to guide modern life?

When you understand Jewish thought, perspective changes. God created the Universe with the power of the Word. Words themselves have power. Our ancient texts convey wisdom that has been our guide throughout the ages. What is more admirable than one who is deeply familiar with the wisdom hidden within the texts?

The Orthodox Jews believe that their studying is what protects the Jewish People and even more so keeps the world from collapsing into itself. To the secular mind, these ideas seem bizarre and ridiculous. Those who have read Jordan Petersons work might think a little differently about the importance of Words. Those who take a moment to reflect on the extraordinary survival of the Jewish People might think twice about dismissing their idea When our survival occurs against all odds, contrary to all logic, physical, political, and the results achieved by all other nations who am I to say that the Orthodox are wrong in believing that their studying protects us all?

In light of these ideas, it is mind-blowing to consider the fact that Rabbi Gershon Edelstein directed for there to be no Torah studies today. All the students and scholars would focus only on mourning the passing of Rabbi Kanievsky and only that. In other words, this mans contribution to Jewish knowledge balances (or possibly is more important) than the studying that they believe keeps the world from imploding.

That is an extraordinary thought.

Not all Israelis agree with these beliefs and ideas but, nonetheless, the State bends in adaptation to them. So many people are expected at the funeral that streets have been closed, traffic rerouted, and people instructed not to travel in the area, if at all possible. Many people who heard that the police intended to limit attendance flocked to the area last night(!!). Many public sector employees were given an ok to work from home. Secular schools in the area were also shut down or moved to distance learning to prevent unnecessary travel. The IDF canceled induction for new soldiers today to minimize the necessity for travel. Provisions were made for crowd safety, but it is likely that the crowds will be bigger than anything anyone knows how to control. Local parks were set aside so that helicopters could land and evacuate people should a disaster occur.

All this, not for a rock star, politician, or even a charismatic influencer. Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky was a vessel of Jewish knowledge, an example of Jewish scholarliness, of putting learning, wisdom, and faith above all worldly comforts.

Im not religious. Im certainly not Orthodox and yet, in many ways, I like todays Israel better than the Israel we see on so many other days.

{Reposted from the authors blog}

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Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky and the OTHER Israel - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com

By Samuel Sey, Op-ed contributor | Saturday, March 19, 2022Reuters/Victor Ruiz Garcia

Most conservatives support Floridas so-called Dont Say Gay Bill. However, many of these supposed conservatives apparently support the bill for the wrong reasons.

Many conservatives do not care about protecting children from LGBTQ indoctrination, they only care about protecting children from leftist indoctrination.

Most conservatives today are heading toward the same direction as liberals and leftists theyre simply progressing at a slower speed.

Christless conservatives hate leftism, not sin. We Christians shouldnt forget that.

They are generally our political allies, but they are not our philosophical allies. Jesus said: Whoever is not with me is against me (Matthew 12:30).

That applies to conservatives too. Leftists arent the only people who are against Jesus. Christless conservatives are against Jesus too. Therefore, Christless conservatives have more in common with leftists than they have with Christians.

So although leftists are a bigger threat to our society, Christless conservatives arent the solution. Actually, they are part of the problem.

Yesterday, Dave Rubin and the man he calls his husband announced theyre fathers of two children through surrogate mothers. Many supposed conservatives, including commentators and media outlets like Candace Owens,Prager University andThe Blaze shared their support.

If youre unfamiliar with Dave Rubin, he is a political commentator on his talk show, "The Rubin Report." He occasionally refers to himself as a conservative, but he mostly describes himself as a classical liberal.

I actually admire Dave Rubin a lot. Imentioned "The Rubin Report" in an article about my top 10 favorite podcasts two years ago. In that article, I said: Dave Rubin is the most interesting podcaster I follow.

His interviews with Ben Shapiro, Jordan Peterson, Larry Elder, Douglas Murray and many more have been so helpful to me. His first interviews with Ben Shapiro and Larry Elder especially shaped a lot of my thinking on racial issues. The interviews encouraged me to do further research research that strengthened my blog. Truly, without "The Rubin Report," my blog would be significantly weaker.

Nevertheless, Dave Rubin and the conservatives who support his announcement are part of the problem in our society.

In between their tweets about how LGBTQ indoctrination in public schools harm children, many supposed conservatives tweeted in support of Dave Rubin harming children.

Yes, Dave Rubin and the man he calls his husband are harming their children. I do not take any pleasure in saying that. But its true.

Just as children are a blessing to fathers and mothers, fathers and mothers are a blessing to children. Its therefore harmful to remove that blessing from children through homosexual parenting.

As Katy Faust explains in her must-read book,Them Before Us, homosexual parenting deliberately violates a childs right to a father and mother, with devastating consequences.

We shouldnt have to explain this to conservatives. After all, many of the conservatives supporting Dave Rubin and his partners homosexual parenting are some of the people who rightly blame racial disparities on fatherlessness in black families.

These hypocritical conservatives complain about why leftists do not care about fatherlessness in black families, but they apparently havent asked themselves why they do not care about Dave Rubins children being motherless.

They support homosexual marriages and homosexual parenting, and yet they complain about how gender theory and transgenderism have become so popular without acknowledging that acceptance of homosexual marriages and homosexual parenting fosters acceptance of gender theory and transgenderism.

Also, we conservatives have spent the last two years sharing our concerns about how masks harm children. And yet, we support children being harmed by homosexual parenting?

Of course, children shouldnt be forced to wear masks. But isnt homosexual parenting significantly more harmful than a mask?

Nevertheless, when Pete Buttigieg and his partner announced last year that theyre fathers of twins, they were criticized by many of the conservatives who are supporting Dave Rubin and his partner today.

Apparently, what makes Buttigiegs announcement harmful for society, and makes Rubins announcement helpful for society is their political affiliations.

Many conservatives are only committed to conserving their own interests, nothing more. Thats why just as liberals have regressed into leftists, most conservatives have regressed into liberals.

So dont be surprised when most conservatives support gender theory, transgenderism and public schools indoctrinating children with LGBTQ ideology in a few years.

Most conservatives arent conservatives at all.

Thats why Matt Schlapp, the president of the Conservative Political Action Conference the biggest conservative conference in America shared a tweetin support of transgenderism a few weeks ago. Thats why he alsoadmittedto removing pro-life speakers from the conference because he believes they are unnecessary.

Many conservatives are more interested in being on the right side of history than being right with God.

Until that changes, Christless conservatives will always be part of the problem, not the solution.

Originally published at Slow to Write.

Samuel Sey is a Ghanaian-Canadian who lives in Brampton, a city just outside of Toronto. He is committed to addressing racial, cultural, and political issues with biblical theology, and always attempts to be quick to listen and slow to speak.

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Conservatives are part of the problem - The Christian Post

In late February, Pierre Poilievre shared a video about the Ukraine crisis to his more than 211,000 followers on YouTube. It had been just days since Vladimir Putin ordered Russian troops across the border, and over a montage of video clips appearing to be from the invasion, the Tory MP attempted to blame what was happening on Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus climate change policies, which he contrasted with his own newly announced campaign to become the Conservative partys next leader.

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Every time Trudeau kills a Canadian energy project, the dirty dictators like Venezuelas Maduro or Russias Putin do a victory dance, Poilievre said in the video, which has now been viewed more than 132,000 times. Elect me, Poilievre promised to his 511,000 followers on Facebook, where he reposted the video, and it would be Canadian oil and gas producers doing the dancing. As prime minister I will reject Trudeaus anti-energy laws, he said.

Of course, Putins decision to invade Russias neighbour had nothing to do with the oilsands or pipelines. But Poilievre seized his chance, using the winds of war to bear aloft his domestic political message.

The next day, an op-ed by Poilievre containing these same talking points appeared in the Post Millennial, a Montreal-based site that describes itself as one of the largest conservative news outlets in the world, and whose editor-at-large Andy Ngo has been called a right-wing troll by Rolling Stone.

Poilievres op-ed, which was entitled Canadian natural gas is the solution to Europes Russian energy crisis, was that day reposted on Canada Proud, a Conservative Party-linked Facebook group that has over 394,000 followers. That page reached potentially millions of people earlier this year with posts cheering on the anti-vaccine convoy in Ottawa, Facebook ad data suggests, despite evidence linking the convoys leaders to hate groups.

Two days later, True North, a conservative media outlet founded by former Toronto Sun columnist Candice Malcolm, which has deemed the Trudeau government tyrannical and accused CBC of spreading fake news, reported admiringly on Poilievres plan to scrap Canadas carbon tax if he is ever elected prime minister. That piece was shared on Facebook to True Norths 185,000 followers and was echoed by similarly appreciative posts about Poilievres opposition to climate regulations on the pages Elect Conservatives (85,000 followers) and Oil Sands Strong (155,000 followers).

As Poilievre attains frontrunner status in the Conservative leadership race, Canadian media outlets have focused on his relative youth, his attack-dog qualities, his fiscal conservatism, his interest in cryptocurrency and whether his populist approach Poilievre took selfies with convoy members in Ottawa and called them bright, joyful and peaceful Canadians will help or harm his campaign.

But these accounts have overlooked a key reason for Poilievres recent surge.

Poilievre is skilled at creating personally branded internet content, which is then pushed out to millions of Canadians through a tightly-linked network of social media pages and online personalities, often bypassing traditional media outlets entirely. These are techniques commonly used by Instagram or YouTube stars. Poilievre appears to be adapting them to right-wing politics.

Hes definitely got an influencer kind of vibe, Ben Woodfinden, a conservative political commentator based in Ottawa who contributes to outlets like the Hub and National Post, told The Tyee. In this new media environment, whatever you want to call it, that we find ourselves in I suspect hes not too interested in having approving op-eds in the Globe and Mail.

Poilievre didnt respond to an interview request from The Tyee.

If Poilievre becomes Conservative leader, expect him to transform how politics are retailed in Canada. He will have shown the way to win is by tapping into an alternative online ecosystem whose most prominent players flood peoples feeds with posts questioning COVID restrictions, calling the mainstream media corrupt, demanding the immediate resignation of Trudeau and asking the government to do everything possible to accelerate the production of climate-warming oil and gas.

There is a huge amount of potential support that can come from this network if they decide to get behind you, Caroline Orr Bueno, a behavioural scientist and freelance journalist whos written extensively about online disinformation, told The Tyee. Poilievres tactics might be effective, she argued, but the political consequences are chilling, because he is changing what is fair game for discourse by mainstream politicians. The Overton window is a name for what is reasonable to publically discuss.

Any time an extreme idea gets brought into the mainstream, youre kind of shifting the whole Overton window, so that if extreme becomes mainstream, then even more extreme ideas get brought in, said Orr Bueno.

Poilievre has been testing methods of self-promotion for some time. Back in 2015, he was the subject of minor controversy over a series of YouTube videos he starred in promoting the Stephen Harper governments child-care policies. In one video, Poilievre, who was then Conservative employment minister, walks around having impromptu conversations with people attending a consignment sale at an Ottawa arena, saying at one point We believe that the real child-care experts are mom and dad.

Opposition parties attacked Poilievre for using taxpayer funds to create vanity videos. But Poilievre refused to make any apologies and the whole thing soon blew over. Seven years later, it appears Poilievre was just early to the trend of using social media to spread a political brand, a tactic now used by everyone from NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh to Democratic congressperson Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

In a recent video posted to his YouTube account Poilievre is seen filling up a minivan at a snowy Toronto gas station where prices are over $2 per litre. I have a common sense plan to tackle these high prices, which includes getting rid of the carbon tax, Poilievre says, disregarding the fact that prices are skyrocketing primarily because of COVID-linked disruptions and Putins invasion of Ukraine, not Canadian climate policies or that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recently put out a major report warning that if we do not rapidly get greenhouse gas emissions under control more than three billion lives worldwide could be at stake. Yet the video has over 216,000 views.

I really like Pierre. It seems like he honestly just wants to fix this shit, one YouTube commentor wrote of Poilievres $123.74 gasoline bill. Another added, I love how Pierre used the cheapest grade of fuel just like the common man.

The online performance of relatability is part of a deliberate strategy used by social media influencers, which in recent years has been adapted by high-profile conservatives to market a series of increasingly far-right positions, according to a 2018 report from the U.S. think tank Data & Society. Rather than stressing institutional credibility, political influencers highlight how relatable and accessible they are to their audiences, reads the report, which is entitled Alternative Influence: Broadcasting the Reactionary Right on YouTube.

These content creators use collaborations with other influencers and responses to audience feedback to cultivate a sense of loyalty, it adds.

Evidence of Poilievre collaborating with like-minded political brands could be seen in March 2021, when he posted a photo of himself on Facebook out for a walk with his daughter. In the photo, which currently has 20,000 likes, hes wearing a black hoodie that displays the logo for Oil Sands Strong, a pro-oil and gas Facebook group created by Fort McMurray marketer Robbie Picard.

Since the logo includes a raised fist, the Carleton Federal Liberal Association in Poilievres riding saw an opportunity to attack. Poilievre sure loves this hoodie, it tweeted. Does he deny climate change? And whats with the clenched white fist, a white supremacy symbol? Really? But it was a strategic blunder that activated Poilievres social media allies.

Oil Sands Strongs Picard, who is Mtis, posted a photo of himself with two Black women: Amazing night out with my two best ladies! Poilievre then reposted that photo with a caption demanding the Liberal association apologize. The tweet disparaged Fort Mac and falsely alleged racism, he said. The episode was ignored by mainstream media outlets, but covered extensively in True North, the Post Millennial and Rebel News, the far-right outlet created by Ezra Levant which has 321,000 Facebook followers.

An Alberta-based site called the Buffalo Tribune (15,800 followers) hosted a 47-minute Facebook interview with Picard about the Liberal tweet. The fist represents solidarity, said Picard, who didnt respond to an interview request from The Tyee.

Transitioning to the bigger picture, Picard described as nonsense to Buffalo Tribune host Rob Boutilier the idea that someone would criticize the climate impacts of the oilsands, not noting that they are one of Canadas largest and fastest growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions. Wind and solar, Picard argued incorrectly, are just as damaging to the environment: Theres no such thing as green energy.

By that point the Carleton Federal Liberal Association had deleted the tweet about Poilievre. It didnt reply to a media request from The Tyee.

Last November, the Buffalo Tribunes Boutilier posted a Facebook video to his 77,000 followers entitled Society demanding I get vaccinated is a load of bullshxt. As the Omicron surge took off, leading to record case counts across Canada, his site posted articles dismissive of disease prevention measures. When anti-vaxers set up a GoFundMe for a trucker protest in Ottawa that January, the Buffalo Tribune showed people how to donate. And weeks into the convoys occupation of the capital, during which some protesters displayed confederate flags and swastikas, the site shared on Facebook legal resources for truckers facing charges.

As in Canadas mainstream media, the so-called freedom convoy was major news across the countrys right-wing social media ecosystem. Sites such as the Post Millennial, True North and Rebel News posted story after story praising the demonstration. Canada Proud blitzed its followers with memes and posts. In the midst of it all, Poilievre met with protesters and posed in front of a sign saying Stocked shelves, thank a trucker. Empty shelves, thank Trudeau.

To some commentators this was political suicide. By aligning with the convoy, Poilievre repels most Canadians, Randy Boswell argued on iPolitics. But on far-right social media feeds Poilievre was treated like a hero. Shortly after appearing at the convoy, Poilievre gave a speech in the House of Commons attacking Trudeau for calling out Nazi symbolism among the Ottawa occupiers. Poilievre posted a video of the speech to his Facebook page with the hashtag #TruckersNotTrudeau.

It was soon being repackaged and spread across social media. MUST WATCH: Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre SLAMS Trudeau for falsely claiming the trucker convoy is racist, read an early February headline on the Post Millennial. Canada Proud reposted the story, with a caption questioning Trudeaus moral authority to call others racist.

Id say that there is likely no small measure of political opportunism in politicians like Poilievre harmonizing their political rhetoric with operations like Canada Proud, Shane Gunster, a communications professor at Simon Fraser University who studies Canadas right-wing digital platforms, told The Tyee. Those platforms have significant reach and deep resonance in parts of the conservative base that politicians like Poilievre are keen to reach.

Canada Proud is now making regular posts trashing Poilievres competitors in the Conservative leadership race. Things that belong in the '90s, reads one recent meme with photos of a Sony Walkman, a brightly colored ski jacket and Tory leadership candidate Jean Charest. Poilievres opposition to COVID restrictions has helped win him the support of right-wing mega-influencer Jordan Peterson, who tweeted to his 2.4 million followers in January that Poilievre is a Canadian politician who appears both courageous and articulate. (Two weeks later, Peterson went on Joe Rogans podcast, where he mocked climate activists and questioned if the climate emergency is real.)

Polls now suggest Poilievre is the frontrunner among Conservative voters. He is very popular with the partisan base, Woodfinden said. It really is his to lose.

In mid-March, Poilievre posted a video to YouTube of him taking a selfie with a security guard named J.R. Were legalizing the smile, eh? Poilievre says with his hand on the guards shoulder. Were gonna give Canadians back control of their lives, right J.R.? The video feels spontaneous and unscripted, casting a career politician who wants to eliminate climate-stabilizing taxes on Canadas largest oil and gas companies as a man of the people.

Keep it up Pierre! someone commented. Lets take back this country.

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How Poilievre Is Reinventing Right-Wing Politicking - TheTyee.ca

Patrick Peterson

Leave the decision up to him, and cornerback Patrick Peterson wants to return to the Minnesota Vikings for the 2022 season.

But the teams new leadership has to ask first.

Peterson has reiterated a couple of times this offseason his longing to remain with the Vikings after a relatively successful 2021 campaign. He tabulated a 63.0 grade from Pro Football Focus last season, acting as the most consistent cornerback on the roster. Cameron Dantzler was in the Mike Zimmer doghouse for a couple of months, Bashaud Breeland was erratic (in more ways than one), Mackensie Alexander struggled, and Jeff Gladney was cut before the season began.

On his podcast this week, Peterson said on his future with the Vikings:

I stand where I stood in December. I loved everything about Minnesota. At the end of the day, the balls in their court now if they want me back.

So, it sounds like Minnesota basically needs to pick up the phone, assuming it wants the soon-to-be 32-year-old cornerback back in 2022.

Minnesota should absolutely want Peterson back because the CB room as of early March is skimpy. The depth chart consists of Cameron Dantzler, Kris Boyd, and Harrison Hand. Outside of Dantzler if he continues to develop at his current pace that is not a fieldable batch of cornerbacks in the modern NFL.

As a result, most mocks draft predict the Vikings select a cornerback like Ahmad Gardner or Derek Stingley Jr. in Aprils draft. The selection of either of those men would blend best player available and team need for Minnesota with the 12th overall pick.

Peterson made humongous news when he signed with the Vikings in 2021 on Saint Patricks Day, no less as no fans or pundits even realized he was on the teams radar or vice-versa. However, Peterson sought to play for former coach Mike Zimmer, so the team readily obliged.

Now, Kevin OConnell is in charge, an offensive-minded coach. OConnell hired Ed Donatell to lead the defense in 2022, shifting to a 3-4 scheme after decades of 4-3 systems for the Vikings.

Finally, on Tuesday, the Vikings signed linebacker Jordan Hicks from you guessed it the Arizona Cardinals, Petersons old stomping grounds. The two played together for a couple of seasons in the desert. That move cannot hurt the realism of Peterson re-joining the Vikings.

Plus, there are Chander-Jones-to-Minnesota rumors, as well.

Peterson also mentioned on his show other teams have inquired about his free agency.

Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. His YouTube Channel, VikesNow, debuts in March 2022. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sally from Minneapolis. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, The Sopranos, and The Doors (the band).

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Patrick Peterson Provides Update on Future with Vikings - VikingsTerritory.com

By Mathilda O'Neill, Third Year, Film & Television with Innovation

Following a time skip of six years, Act III Awakening deals with the Kanye we know today. The new difficult, offensive and unfortunately unstable Kanye. In footage that feels increasingly hard to watch, the reality of Yes existence is exposed with brutal honesty.

So here we are at the end. What was once a joyous capturing of Yes rise ends - as T.S. Elliot put it not with a bang, but with a whimper. Theres a kind of sick irony in this final act, with three hours dedicated essentially to the thrill and excitement of his rise, now that his utter faith in himself has come to fruition, the victory is hollow and only seems to bring him alienation.

Kanyes controversies have finally come into focus, with the inclusion of footage from his 2020 pep rally and backed up with his own words during Coodies filming, these topics are at last up for discussion. In this act, Ye makes a number of statements that are morally abhorrent and politically dangerous. At multiple points he rambles incoherently about his relationship with God, and somehow connects this with abortion and the moral failure he believes it to be.

In fact, incoherent doesnt do these moments justice: they are troubling, not the leapfrogging political nonsense of a Jordan Peterson or Ben Shapiro but genuinely difficult to watch because of the display of mental instability they truly are. His controversial views are expressed as blind ramblings, propped up by a circle of blind lemmings whod never dream of saying anything against him. This is not to condone his words but rather convey the genuinely difficult experience of watching them be expressed.

The causes for this arent dissected and spelled plainly out for the audience, but are rather gestured to and for this directors Simmons and Oozah deserve a great deal of praise. In this acts opening moments, were taken back to 2002 to see Rhymefest take Ye to task for describing himself as a genius saying: Who are you to call yourself a genius For you to feel disrespected, cause somebody dont think youre something, you gotta get yourself together man. Ye replies I just feel like it was really funny for me to even get offended by you not calling me genius. Like how arrogant is that?

His days as a rising star are long gone, Ye is now, undoubtedly, on the mountaintop and no longer has to trouble himself being around people who wont tell him exactly what he wants to hear. The tragedy here is that this clip shows he welcomes it, and now the uninterrupted ramblings of the more recent footage seem a desperate attempt for someone to simply tell him no.

Aside from aspects of the time spent in Japan, this means the final act is missing warmth, humanity and excitement, attributes the previous two acts had in spades. I dont mean this to be disparaging; of course this tonal gap lays bare the hollowness of his current existence. The capturing of lightning in a bottle quality of Coodies filming has been replaced with a sense of desperation, as this long-time friend can seemingly think of no other way of helping Ye than fostering an understanding of how he became this way.

Kanyes current wellbeing and moral character are inescapable in reviewing this conclusion and seemingly in any discussions of Kanye West currently. The concurrence between the arrival of this documentary and yet another of his controversies feels almost inevitable now. Watching this final act, I realised that his infamous pep rally has basically fallen out of public memory, and wondered when the same could be said for his current obsession with Pete Davidson.

The portrayal of Yes mental health makes it feel doomed to deteriorate and as a result so will the controversies. It illustrated just how unlikely it is for things to get better and at the end of this I didnt feel the same way about being an avid fan of his music.

Act III sits you down and takes the shine off of the apple of being a Ye fan, and thats (unfortunately) a good thing.

Featured Image: Netflix/IMDB

How do you feel about Kanye's place in popular culture?

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Jeen-Yuhs Act Three brings the Kanye trilogy to a close, shining a harsh light on the icon's fall from grace - Epigram

Living in Montreal, I am used to encountering deeply secular people. No heaven above, no hell below, no God at all. Can you even show me one solid piece of evidence for your God? Why would you believe in old debunked myths? These are the kinds of questions they ask. How does one share the hope of the gospel with such people?

Depending on the particular stripe of unbelief, it may be to poke holes in the materialist fortress, to point out self-evident echoes of eternity in their own beliefs, to show the moral implications of atheism, or any number of similar approaches. All of these are types of pre-evangelism: tilling up the hard ground of unbelief so that the seeds of faith in Jesus might have a chance to grow.

Over the last few years, however, Ive been bumping into another kind of person who is asking very different kinds of questions: Are the spiritual beings around us benevolent or malevolent? How can we more deeply connect to the spiritual realm? Or, like one young man asked me: Can I ever be free from the spiritual forces I opened myself up to by engaging in occult practices?

In another case, a new convert at my church shared with me how, soon before coming to Christ, she had travelled to Brazil to experience a shaman-guided experience with the psychedelic Ayahuasca. Thankfully the ceremony was cancelled at the last minute. These are people with a very different set of beliefs than the typical secular young person, and they lead to very different conversations.

What is going on here? It seemed to me that I was encountering a new wave of the New Age.

Growing up, the people I knew of who were into New Age beliefs and practices were generally middle-aged women. In high school, the mother of one of my friends had a room in their house where she spoke to angels. For a few bucks, she could even tell you what they had to say.I avoided that room there were lots of strange things hanging from the ceiling.

Then there was Oprah, who symbolized the smiling non-threatening face of New Age spirituality.All of this seemed to me far more like wishful thinking, scams, and mushy sentimentality than anything engaged with serious spiritual forces.

So my assumption was that the appeal of the New Age was mostly for that demographic. The young people I encountered were either deeply secular or, if their families had not had a decisive break from organized religion, mildly theistic.

While New Age beliefs never went away, they certainly fell off my radar for a few years. Around the time of Jordan Petersons rise to fame, I became aware, like many others, of an online world where serious conversations were taking place in long-form podcasts and YouTube interviews. The format seemed to foster nuanced, open, and surprisingly deep conversations at a time when the content of primetime news shows was devolving into 90-second shouting matches between talking heads.

One strange little corner of that online world was Joe Rogans podcast. With marathon 3-hour episodes of shall we say wildly varying quality, no one (least of all Joe) expected it to become so popular. Rogan is vulgar and blunt, but he has a winsome personality, a good dollop of common sense, and perhaps his most dynamic qualities: an insatiable curiosity and a capacity for wonder. Listen to him and his guests talk about grizzly bears or ancient Egypt and youll quickly find your own curiosity and wonder awakened.

Recent controversies have continued to polarize opinion about him and, ironically, broaden his reach. To some he is a dangerous purveyor of misinformation who platforms discredited and dangerous fringe thinkers (and to be fair, he certainly talks to some strange folks); to others he is a voice of sanity and one of the few remaining spaces where free speech is defended. But one thing is for sure: his audience is massive, easily eclipsing other podcasts and cable news shows. And the lions share of that audience seems to be young men millions of them.

These are the men facing the meaning crisis the existential inheritance of postmodernism. Or, more simply, the meaning crisis is what happens to a soul when you teach it that everything is a cosmic accident and therefore nothing has any real or ultimate meaning. They have no interest in organized religion, but they love the masculine competence and self-respect that the podcast exudes.

To these young people, Rogan offers not only entertainment through interesting interviews but also a taste of re-enchantment through his curiosity and wonder, the promises of technology, and his experiences and endorsements of psychedelic substances as gateways to wisdom and knowledge. This is where I see a connection between Joe Rogans massive popularity and influence and the unexpected reappearance of New Age spirituality in young people.

In this article, I want to focus on aspects of Rogans project that I think the church should take note of because they are illustrative of much broader societal trends which present Christians with both challenges and opportunities. But first, lets see how this fits within the broader cultural narrative.

In his book Return of the Strong Gods, R.R. Reno, editor of First Things magazine, shows how the disenchantment a kind of spiritual malaise that has spread across the West is not simply a byproduct of secularization but the result of a specific strategy adopted in the aftermath of the two World Wars.

Traumatized by the horrors of Auschwitz, Western intellectuals embraced what Reno calls the post-war consensus, the idea that strong beliefs, convictions, and claims to truth are what give rise to the passions that caused such atrocities. In order to ensure that such things never happen again, these strong gods were cast out and replaced with weak ones: pillars of objective truth gave way to plastic values, solid moral virtues dissolved into liquid cultural preferences.

If this is the case and I found the argument of Renos book to be, on the whole, persuasive then the intentional suppression of the human hunger for transcendence in the West since the end of the second World War dovetailed with the natural effects of secularization to create a situation where souls have been starved for a taste of eternity as never before.

This dual process of secularization and suppression brought low the ceiling of the world and drained the vibrant colors of life to a paltry grey, leaving young people with a gnawing hunger to come into contact with something beyond what they can see and touch, to be swept up into something bigger than themselves.

Like a mighty river held back by a hastily-built dam, this God-given hunger was artificially restrained. But now it seems to be breaking forth as that dam comes apart in pieces. The wave of re-enchantment washing across the West manifests itself in various ways. In what follows, I select just three streams that have struck me as particularly relevant to Christians, the third of which will bring us back to Joe Rogan.

Many seek and find an echo of transcendence in the crusader-like pursuit of political and cultural goals.[1]Invariably these beliefs take the shape of grand narratives that mimic the Biblical story, including some pristine Edenic state, a fall into sin, a path of righteousness, and an eschatological hope. Radical environmentalism, the LGBTQ activist movement, and the progressive Left all fit this pattern and hold increasing cultural and institutional influence in our day.

Some movements on the far-Right such as white nationalism take the same general shape and likewise require a whole-life commitment. Many have noted the religious even fundamentalist ethos of these movements, and that those who join them tend to be not only irreligious but also to come from fatherless or broken homes. Those who are without the nourishing roots of faith and family cast about for a cause to live for and a family to join.[2]

Many in our day are irreligious but dissatisfied with the cold cavern that is staunch atheism. Nothing beautiful grows there. So where do they turn? Some thanks be to God respond to the faithful apologetics and evangelism of genuine believers. Others take more circuitous routes back towards Christianity, such as those influenced by the work of Canadian psychologist and public intellectual Jordan Peterson. Speaking in the idiom of psychology and in explicitly evolutionary terms, he has been able to get a hearing with a whole swath of people who for one reason or another would not look to a Bible-believing church for the answers to their spiritual malaise.

And yet, as many have pointed out, Peterson has served as a kind of gateway-drug such that some of these people have become genuine believers, entering the Kingdom ahead of their teacher. We baptized one such young man in our church not too long ago. The challenge for such converts may be learning to move beyond YouTube videos and integrating fully into healthy local churches.

This third form of re-enchantment brings us back to Joe Rogan. Raised vaguely Catholic in an abusive home, he has no interest in the Bible or Christianity. And despite the almost dizzying array of guests he has had on his podcast, I am not aware of a single solid Christian among them, a fact which makes one suspect a certain avoidance.

Rogan represents this third subset of those who are groping for the transcendent. They seem to intuit that ideology-driven utopias are wrong-headed an instinct which inoculates them to the appeal of the first stream above but see any kind of return to organized religion as a step backwards. And so they turn to things which promise at least a taste of re-enchantment in our late-modern world. Among them, we now consider two which come up perennially in Rogans endless hours of conversation: technology and psychedelics.

Technology advances our mastery over the material world and the limitations of our bodies. It amazes us even as it reshapes us in subtle ways. For those without the hope of eternity or the expectation of a future Kingdom, the hope offered by technological advance can have an incredible pull.

For example, Joe Rogan is very excited about Elon Musks Neuralink, an embedded brain-machine interface that promises you the ability to control computers and machines with just your thoughts as soon as you let a robot-surgeon implant the microchip directly in your brain. (Its like a Fitbit in your skull with tiny wires, says Musk. Ill pass). The first human trials are due to start this year.

There is a messianic flavor to the hope such people place in technology, but also a readiness to treat the human body like merely a biological machine that can be tampered with at will. At the heart of this approach is the imposition of the human will on nature, something very much akin to the practice of magic both ancient and modern. C.S. Lewis explains:

There is something which unites magic and applied science while separating both from the wisdom of earlier ages. For the wise men of old the cardinal problem had been how to conform the soul to reality, and the solution had been knowledge, self-discipline, and virtue. For magic and applied science alike the problem is how to subdue reality to the wishes of men: the solution is a technique; and both, in the practice of this technique, are ready to do things hitherto regarded as disgusting and impioussuch as digging up and mutilating the dead.[3]

Or such as splicing microchips into peoples brains.

But the idea that technology can elicit wonder and amazement what we would call worship is not a new idea. Historian Davie Nye refers to the technological sublime and Ross Douthat picks up on this in his recent book, The Decadent Society, noting how technological achievements can give people the same sense of awe that natural beauty does and even bring them together in a profound shared experience. Skyscrapers, the Hoover Dam, and the Apollo space program are some examples that come to mind. In a similar vein, John Piper has repeatedly made the point throughout his ministry that there is something innate about the human soul that seeks grandeur, majesty, glory we go to the Grand Canyon to feel small in the presence of something big.

These concepts flow together and help explain why people are so drawn to every new technological development. There is something transcendent, a kind of gravitational pull of glory, drawing their souls in whether they recognize it or not. For those young people today who are blinded to the soul-satisfying Lord of Glory (1 Cor. 2:8, James 2:1), technology can provide a pale imitation. But for parched souls, even a few drops is welcome.

We now turn to the last but most foreboding thing I have noticed on Joe Rogans podcast. For years he has been openly advocating for the use of various psychedelic and mind-altering substances as pathways to mental, emotional, and spiritual growth. He not only shares his own experiences but often has guests on his show who discuss and encourage them as well.

The promise that ingesting the right food might unlock hidden knowledge should strike the Christian ear with a dark echo where have we heard this before? Our first parents were told a version of this very same promise in the garden. Milton put that temptation memorably in the words of the serpent:

And what are Gods that Man may not become

As they, participating God-like food?[4]

It is for this reason that Terrence McKenna, one of the early proponents of psychedelics, titled his book Food of the Gods and, building on that legacy, Graham Hancock one of Rogans favourite repeat guests has written Fingerprints of the Gods and Magicians of the Gods. Hancock gives a wholehearted endorsement of psychedelics as a pathway to ancient knowledge and wisdom.

What is not often said up front is that such knowledge and wisdom is mediated through mysterious entities and intelligences that one encounters during these experiences. While some believe these entities to be constructions of their own subconscious minds, many others are certain that they are coming in contact with non-human beings.

We are now well into the territory of the New Age movement and even the occult. Christians have categories for such beings, and it should be clear that any entity making contact through an activity that is explicitly forbidden in the Scriptures is not in submission to God.

But I can see why people would be drawn to these beliefs and practices. They offer what seems like a meaningful connection to the spiritual realm. They also work much like conspiracy theories, appealing to ones pride by promising a secret insider knowledge of the world. People engaged in the New Age can and do make contact with personal spiritual forces, and aside from the thrill of that experience, there is the added buzz that comes from knowing something that so much of society seems oblivious to.

New Age beliefs and practices also make no personal moral demands. There are no ten commandments, no golden rule, no ultimate moral Judge. This makes it particularly compatible with the moral relativism of our age and the ongoing sexual revolution. Lastly, there is no creed or structure of authority like in a church. This resonates with our current cultural suspicion of authority and institutions.

Rogan is emblematic of a broader movement of otherwise respectable people intellectuals, celebrities,[5] journalists, scientists who are increasingly looking to psychedelics for revelations, wisdom, and to quiet the incessant inner dialogue of the restless self. The dark cloud of opprobrium that hung over the whole psychedelic project in the age of the 60s counter-culture and Timothy Leary has largely dissipated.

A new generation has come of age. This movement seems poised to continue as mainstream academic and medical institutions begin taking the therapeutic potential of these substances more seriously through clinical trials and research. In Canada, for example, the government has begun the process of approving psychedelics for certain cases and making them available for doctors to try.[6]

The Biblical prohibitions and numerous testimonies from users of these drugs make it clear that this is spiritually dangerous. I would never advise anyone to take them. And yet what many people may not know is that there is a growing body of evidence that these substances, used in controlled environments and with low dosages, can be helpful in alleviating various ailments such as depression, OCD, PTSD, and compulsive addictions.

Frankly I am not sure what to do with that, not being any kind of expert on these things. But given our cultures unquestioning adoption of therapeutic categories, it is hard to see how the general public, and probably some professing Christians, will be able to resist the purported benefits of psychedelics.[7] After all, spiritual harm is no longer a meaningful category.

One need not be a prophet to see that the use of psychedelics will be on the rise for some time to come, and by all indications Canada will be on the leading edge. How long before pastors in this country are facing questions about the use of psychedelics to treat mental health problems?

Is it possible that some will come to see a distinction between responsible medical use of such substances and purely recreational use? I dont pretend to know. We do know however from church history that theological and ethical clarity comes when the church is forced to confront new challenges. We will have to think carefully and biblically about how to navigate such questions.

When that young man I mentioned at the beginning asked me if he could be free from spiritual oppression, it was a wide-open door for me to share with him about how Jesus Christ is Lord and King of all creation, with absolute unquestioned authority over every spiritual being. Christs death on the cross and glorious resurrection disarmed and defeated those spirits who live in rebellion against Him. It was amazing to me to be speaking about these profound truths without having to first argue about theism or the supposed conflict between reason and faith.

As the process of re-enchantment continues, I believe we will see more and more people dissatisfied with the hollow cave of materialistic atheism and seeking experiences of the transcendent. Will the church be ready to offer compelling answers to their questions? And will the worship and fellowship of the church be so imbued with the presence and power of God that visitors stop and say God is really among you (1 Cor. 14:25)?

May God move in mighty ways to not only draw the lost to Himself but to revive our churches to be vibrant outposts of Kingdom life. Will you notrevive us again, that your people mayrejoice in you? (Psalm 85:6). By Gods good design, many people are searching, seeking in politics, psychology, or psychedelics what they can only truly find in Him life eternal and union with the holy and Transcendent One.

[1] Although numerous thinkers have pointed this out, Im indebted to an essay by Joseph Bottum from 2014 called The Spiritual Shape of Political Ideas found here: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/weekly-standard/the-spiritual-shape-of-political-ideas.

[2] See the work of Mary Eberstadt for an exploration of this connection between broken families and the loss of faith.

[3] C.S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man, 77.

[4] John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book 9, Lines 716-717.

[5] For example, the recent Netflix documentary Have a Good Trip. Which, apparently, is a collection of celebrities recounting their psychedelic experiences.

[6] Some doctors, therapists get Health Canada permission to use magic mushrooms as noted here: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/some-doctors-therapists-get-health-canada-permission-to-use-magic-mushrooms-1.5834485

[7] There is already some evidence of this happening. Rav Arora, a Canadian writer and journalist whose influence is on the rise, writes on his Substack about convincing a conservative Christian friend of his to try psychedelics and about how positive the experience was. https://ravarora.substack.com/p/a-wondrous-psilocybin-microdose

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Joe Rogan and the Search for Transcendence - The Gospel Coalition | Canada - The Gospel Coalition Africa

MINNESOTA VIKINGS (8-9)

UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS: CB Patrick Peterson, LB Anthony Barr, DE Everson Griffen, S Xavier Woods, DT Sheldon Richardson, TE Tyler Conklin, CB Mackensie Alexander, LB Nick Vigil, C Mason Cole, P Jordan Berry, T Rashod Hill, WR Dede Westbrook, G Dakota Dozier, QB Sean Mannion, DE Eddie Yarbrough, TE Chris Herndon, TE Luke Stocker, WR Chad Beebe, RB Wayne Gallman, DE Tashawn Bower.

RESTRICTED FREE AGENTS: K Greg Joseph.

NEEDS: The defense again has significant holes at all three levels, as new coach Kevin OConnell takes over and veteran defensive coordinator Ed Donatell installs a new system for a unit that gave up the third-most yards and ninth-most points in the NFL last season. Eight of their 14 most-used defensive players in 2021 were signed as free agents just last year, and of those only DT Dalvin Tomlinson is still under contract for 2022. The most pressing need is again at CB, with Cameron Dantzler (17 career games started) currently the most experienced player at the position. Peterson and Barr would be difficult to replace but just as tricky to afford given the teams tight salary-cap situation. The greatest need on offense is at right guard, but affording a proven starter in free agency would be a challenge.

AVAILABLE SALARY CAP SPACE (approximately): $19 million over.

*Associated Press

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Vikings have little space to spend with big holes on defense - KFGO

The 2022 New York Mets are officially going all-in.

The Mets have acquired right-handed starting pitcher Chris Bassitt from the Oakland Athletics, as a source confirmed to Inside the Mets.

New York is sending two of their top pitching prospects in J.T. Ginn (2020 second-round pick, No. 7 ranked prospect in Mets' system) and Adam Oller (Acquired in 2019 Rule 5 Draft from Giants) to Oakland in exchange for Bassitt.

ESPN's Jeff Passan was first to report the news of the trade, while The New York Post's Joel Sherman mentioned the assets that the Mets gave up.

Bassitt is entering his final year of arbitration, and is projected to earn $8.8 million this season.

The 33-year-old has overcome prior injury woes, including Tommy John surgery, from earlier in his career to emerge as one of the American League's top hurlers since the start of 2019. Bassitt, who made the All-Star team for the first time in in 2021, has finished in the top 10 in the A.L. Cy Young race in each of the past two seasons.

Bassitt went 12-4 with a 3.15 ERA, 130 ERA+, 3.34 FIP, 1.055 WHIP and 9.1 K/9 across 157.1 innings (27 starts) a season ago. The righty missed a month down the stretch of his 2021 campaign after being struck in the face with a line drive on August 17th.

The Mets' rotation will now feature three Cy Young caliber arms in Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer and Bassitt. Behind this talented trio, Carlos Carrasco and Taijuan Walker will makeup the backend of this unit.

Although the Mets' major-league rotation will not feature a lefty, David Peterson is on the 40-man roster as a depth starter, and will likely begin the season in Triple-A. Tylor Megill, Trevor Williams and Jordan Yamamoto are also expected to serve as depth pieces in the Triple-A rotation in Syracuse to start the year.

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Mets Acquire Starting Pitcher Chris Bassitt In Trade With Oakland Athletics - Sports Illustrated

Lia Thomas, a 22-year-old senior on the Penn womens swim team, holds the fastest swim times in the country among NCAA women in two freestyle events. She also happens to be a trans woman. Last weekend at the Ivy League Championships, Thomas won three titles. Her success has put her in the center of a national debate on trans womens right to play sports.

As a nonbinary trans person myself, and a former swimmer, I cant help but notice that only a few voices are weighing in on this topic. Few have anything original to say.

Olympic champion Michael Phelps said on CNN that the issue is very complicated. Caitlyn Jenner, a trans woman and Olympic gold decathlon champion, said on Fox News that we need to protect womens sports and that Thomas participation is not good for the trans community. Jordan Peterson, a former professor of psychology, likened trans lives to satanic ritual abuse and a sign of the end of civilization in a conversation with former MMA fighter Joe Rogan on his podcast.

Michael Phelps, Caitlyn Jenner, and Jordan Peterson are being asked to weigh in on an issue that they havent worked on in any substantial way. Phelps hasnt committed his life to trans activism and civil rights. When I listen to Jenner, I cant help but feel that even though she is trans, she is isolated. She doesnt have much other than the spotlight, and under that glare, she repeats what other people say. Peterson has never published peer-reviewed work on gender, bodies, or anything of relevance to the topic of trans women in sports.

The exclusion of substantive voices and a lack of understanding about the topic of trans life has consequences. This month, state legislatures in Kentucky, Indiana, and Iowa passed bills that limit trans women and girls from participating in sports. Alabama lawmakers also passed a bill banning transgender students from using school bathrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identity.

Many people dont realize that the real impact of these anti-trans bills will be a spike in depression and a risk of suicide for trans kids fueled by rejection, marginalization, and hate. We owe it to trans kids to do better.

My recommendation is that those having conversations about trans people whether at home, in the news, on the deck of a swimming pool, or in a state legislature consult experts with a known track record in what they are talking about. There are many fantastic voices to choose from.

Veronica Ivy has done a stellar job addressing inexpert arguments about unfair advantages in sports. Historian Julian Gill-Petersons 2018 book Histories of the Transgender Child addresses the medicalization and racialization of childrens bodies. Anne Fausto-Sterling has a long record of publishing peer-reviewed papers on the topics of sex, gender, development, and biology. Reubs Walsh has committed her academic career to investigating the links between neurodiversity, transness, and mental health. Sari van Anders researches sex and gender as it relates to the study of hormones and culture. Their work is all too often ignored or overlooked.

We need to invite real experts into any conversation or policymaking discussion that impacts trans people.

The true conversation has nothing to do with testosterone or science, and everything to do with fear specifically, peoples fear about their own gender identity and fear of people who dont have a gender identity thats easy to read.

Maybe, someday, well all be able to swim together.

Mal Pool is a trans nonbinary founder of a collective that mediates nonviolent conflict and discrimination at music events in Berlin and a former swimmer from Indiana.

If you or someone you know is in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255, The Trevor Project at 866-488-7386, Trans Lifeline at 877-565-8860, or text TALK to the Crisis Text Line at 741741.

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When we talk about Penn swimmer Lia Thomas, were listening to the wrong voices | Opinion - The Philadelphia Inquirer