The Boy Crisis hit Rock Bottom. Now what?
The culture of the future will be determined by our vision for young men.
The lackluster buzz generated by Jordan Peterson’s interview of David French will have rapidly dissipated by the time this is published, but it provides an important moment for reflection. Discussing the crisis of masculinity, a topic for which he is highly praised, Peterson seemed worn down, while French provided little in the way of truly objectionable opinions.
Peterson’s descent from relevance, combined with French’s avoidance of Trump indicates one small victory: The boy crisis can no longer be denied. The much bigger problem is the lack of solutions.
The meeting was inspired by French’s NY Times opinion piece, The Democrats’ 20-million-dollar-man problem. it concludes,
“America doesn’t need a left-wing version of Joe Rogan. What it needs is our parents, pastors, teachers and coaches to fill the void in young men’s hearts. Our sons should not have to turn to books or podcasts or social media to hear this simple and powerful message: I like you. I want you to live a good life. Let me show you how.”
That simple message was at the heart of Peterson’s early success. While the culture war issues put him on the map, his sincere conviction drew a loyal following. Peterson’s straightforward advice, immortalized in the phrase “Clean your room” was effective because of his genuine affection and fatherly approval towards young men. For many fans, that simple affirmation put them on a path towards adult success.
But those early success stories only represent the tip of the iceberg; young men with enough going for them that a little encouragement made the difference. Beneath the waterline, masses of young men still struggle to find a way forward.
As Peterson’s influence waned, opportunists saw a lucrative market for masculine gurus, with little regard for the sake of young men. People like Nick Fuentes and the notorious Andrew Tate. But it is still too soon for despair. While he may never match the cultural relevance of his initial success, Peterson is no fool, and his recent actions reflect a growing understanding of the deeper issues at hand.
Joining the Daily Wire limited his reach, cementing the label of right wing extremist in the minds of critics. It was a calculated move against an unstable reliance on YouTube, even if fear of being banned was overblown. But it resulted in programs with lasting value. Those who follow him closely recognize that his exploration of culture war topics has been a journey of genuine inquiry, and genuine mortification with what he discovered.
His other moves, specifically his creation of Peterson Academy, and his involvement in the ARC conference, reflect an understanding of the real problems at hand. But like the rest of Peterson’s work, these institutions remain insubstantial and theoretical, unable to escape the gravity of the establishments they aim to replace.
I believe there are two crucial oversights that explain the impotence of these institutional movements, that if corrected, could go a long way to solving the problems facing young men. One from Peterson, and the other from Evangelical Christians.
Both Peterson and frequent collaborator, Jonathan Pageau, have had negative experiences with Protestants and Evangelicals. Peterson’s criticism is rooted in the compromise of Canadian mainline churches, while Pageau expresses a strong distaste for both the close-minded skepticism of biblicism, and the “Rock Concert and a TED-talk” cliché of performative mega-churches.
Their critiques are valid, and mirrored by many Christians, who fuel tiresome online debates about Peterson’s personal relationship with Jesus. I was guilty of dismissing Peterson for not identifying as a Christian, until I recognized that he was providing something churches were not. Young men rarely hear “I like you. I want you to live a good life. Let me show you how.” from evangelical pastors, a role that seems to attract insecure men, uncomfortable with masculine competency. Even if they affirm young men, their dismissal of role models like Peterson alienates those who look up to them.
The twin failures of Peterson and the Church are exemplified in the story of Paul Rene Nichols. Paul is a talented guy who really took Peterson’s message to heart. He got in shape, secured a good job, and bought his own home. His search for meaning led him to Christianity, and eventually marriage. But Peterson’s advice was not sufficient to protect his relationship from the pervasive influence of a culture that pushes women towards divorce at the first sign of conflict. An economic downturn led to a loss of income, putting an end to his attempts to reconcile.
While he remains grateful for Peterson’s influence, his tragic story illustrates how someone can do everything right, and still fail to overcome the forces of a culture that despises and denigrates men.
Paul embraced Peterson’s thesis of Christianity as the cultural inheritance of Western Civilization, long before his dismissal of “Protestants” in his Message to the Christian Churches. But that dismissal was soon justified by Paul’s experiences. His first foray into Christianity led him to a Charismatic church plant that exemplified many of the worst clichés of Evangelicalism; performativity, overemphasis on experience, disorganization, and infighting. The church eventually split.
This led him to Eastern Orthodoxy, which is gaining appeal among young men for its ordered structure. Paul still affirms it as the superior form of Christianity, but he also reveals the unspoken reality of joining such churches. While theoretically espousing a culture of thick community, these enclaves were built on an infrastructure of old-world ethnic villages, a model that doesn’t translate well to modern life.
Much like every other church in America, their influence is limited to a few hours on Sunday, and their attendees remain modern Westerners. Appeals to authority and tradition eventually fall flat when Priestly guidance doesn't result in jobs, homes, and marriages. The Orthodox Church couldn’t preserve Paul’s marriage or provide him with loyal friends.
There are no winners here. Paul’s story might be exceptional— fate dealt him a bad hand, but it is also far from unique. It illustrates the complexity of the problem, and the troubling blind spots coming from all quarters, proving the validity of critiques, and the weakness of proposed solutions. These problems are only poised to accelerate, with AI eliminating entry level jobs, and polarization increasing between the sexes.
The potential for solutions still exists, and it’s up to the church to pick up the slack. The battle of the moment is one of perception, where Evangelicalism has been its own worst enemy. The desire to be culturally relevant is seen as cringy and off-putting. Meanwhile, our effectiveness is overlooked. But when things get hard, effectiveness is what counts. It’s just a matter of pointing in the right direction.
Despite his negative comments, Peterson remains open minded, and has had fruitful interactions with Evangelicals that “get” what he was doing, including Greg Laurie, Dallas Jenkins, and Tim Tebow. These men are having a powerful impact in their respective areas of influence, but none are capable of stepping into the role Peterson once held.
But as French rightly noted, it can be done by local pastors, teachers, and coaches. Proximity trumps charisma; the question is, how to make the connection? In my review of Aaron Renn’s Life in the Negative World, I highlighted several creative solutions that are working in real life.
Pastor Ed Newton provides other notable examples. He recently implemented a church service specifically for the deaf community, a chronically overlooked demographic. But he’s also advocating for churches to get more involved in the marketplace, building businesses and hiring people whose background makes it difficult to find employment.
Churches are always great at providing for the needs of overlooked groups. What hasn’t clicked yet, is that the most chronically overlooked demographic for useful services is not a minority, but the majority of men.
The frightening reality is that this multitude of restless young men will shape the culture for the next several decades. Their numbers and potential make it inevitable. The question is, are we as Christians, capable of saying “I like you. I want you to live a good life. Let me show you how.” with the genuine conviction of Jordan Peterson? Are we willing to prove it by providing tangible solutions to real problems?
The young men will follow the leaders who can. The bleakness or brightness of the future is up to us.