Chuck Darwin<p>Though <a href="https://c.im/tags/Jordan" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Jordan</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Peterson" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Peterson</span></a> hasn’t identified as a Christian for most of his career, <br>and seems to express his interest in religion as an intellectual outsider, <br>his outspoken views on gender and sexual expression have won him powerful admirers on the religious right. </p><p>This includes the anti-abortion group <br>"Focus on the Family", which argued that <br>“a secular professor is speaking truth” after Peterson made multiple posts on X in June attacking Pride Month.</p><p>The vibe at his New York City show seemed more libertarian than religious, however. </p><p>Many audience members, some with slicked-back hair and expensive business suits, <br>looked like they’d arrived at the show straight from offices on Wall Street. </p><p>But the crowd also included people dressed in hoodies and jeans, including one man in his late 40s who said he lives on Staten Island and owns a modest courier business. </p><p>Asked how a perpetually scowling psychologist from Canada can sell out one of Manhattan’s most storied venues, <br>he described Peterson’s appeal as “so many things, you can appreciate him on the superficial level, <br>like for motivation, <br>but you can also learn from him on an intellectual level.” </p><p>For years he’s listened to Peterson’s podcast while stuck in traffic. </p><p>It appears some of Peterson’s messages about climate change are sinking in. </p><p>When the Center for Countering Digital Hate commissioned a survey of 13 to 17-year-olds in the U.S. about “new denial” narratives pushed online by influencers like Peterson, <br>over one-third agreed that “the impacts of global warming are beneficial or harmless.” </p><p>Teenage boys in particular seemed more likely to hold extreme views. </p><p>Forty-five percent of male respondents to the survey thought climate scientists are “manipulating data” <br>and 41 percent agreed climate change “is a hoax to control and oppress people.” </p><p>That trend seems likely to continue, given that Peterson claimed in late July that over 5,500 people had already enrolled in his new educational venture <br>-- Peterson Academy. </p><p>Its professors include <a href="https://c.im/tags/Jonathan" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Jonathan</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Pageau" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Pageau</span></a>, an icon carver and YouTuber, who has characterized fears about climate change as “secular apocalypticism.” </p><p>Another professor, the podcaster and author <a href="https://c.im/tags/Michael" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Michael</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Malice" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Malice</span></a>, claims that projections of sea-level rise are “literally a religious belief.”<br><a href="https://www.desmog.com/2024/09/09/inside-the-anti-climate-culture-war-led-by-jordan-peterson-and-project-2025/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">desmog.com/2024/09/09/inside-t</span><span class="invisible">he-anti-climate-culture-war-led-by-jordan-peterson-and-project-2025/</span></a></p>