A warts and all look at a thoroughly modern guru

I’m wary of gurus, even if they are promoting stuff I agree with. They may not seek that status but I’d say it is often thrust upon them by over enthusiastic and under critical followers. The crown is not always resisted.

After watching The Rise of Jordan Peterson (Sky Arts, Tuesday) I’m still not sure what to make of the man. In his native Canada, he came to prominence for resisting the legal forcing of the use of certain pronouns preferred by transgender people. More broadly he has become involved in the fight against repressive political correctness, especially in higher education – we’re not talking about normal courtesy and natural reluctance to cause offence.

In this intriguing fly-on-the-wall documentary there was no narrator to editorialise, though of course point of view in these cases is conveyed through editing. I didn’t feel this was any sort of crude hatchet job on Prof. Peterson – it seemed we got a frank sense of the man, warts and all, and then it was up to the viewer to make his/her/their mind up. Mine is still at the reflection stage. His highlighting of and contribution to this corner of the culture wars is invaluable, but as the documentary showed it wasn’t easy – criticised for what people thought he believed rather than what he did believe, shouted down by trans activists, as they chanted, disrupted the PA systems and honked their horns in his face. More interesting were the few debates he had with the calmer protestors. Also, it was striking how many people – especially young men – gave him credit for improving their lives and even turning them around, whether because of his YouTube videos or his book 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos.

Critics

Prof. Peterson’s critics got a good look in too. These varied from the activists to critical friends. His family featured centrally, especially his very supportive wife, as well as his parents and adult children. Prof. Peterson admitted that he was a divisive figure, but thought it was important to make a stand even if that caused division. Some of his twitter exchanges were overly combative, but mostly he was gentle, articulate and incisive, while at times showing an intensity that was somewhat unnerving. I wondered why he allowed his life, private as well as public to be filmed rather intrusively like this. Maybe he felt it was another way to get the message out. He wasn’t promoting any particular religious perspective, but seemed open to the positive role of religious faith in our lives. One of his strongest themes was personal responsibility of the individual.

Meanwhile Covid-19 rumbles on and the new series Dúiseacht (TG4, Thursday) took a wistful look at how Dingle and the surrounding area coped with lockdown and the initial easing of restrictions back in early summer. We saw a priest saying Mass with a young assistant operating the camera, presumably for Zoom or Facebook. Staff at local fish shop showed great resilience in adapting their service when restrictions eased. A pub owner in Ballyferriter reflected on the unfortunate situation and ironically talked about his fears that after eventually re-opening he would be forced to shut down again – exactly what happened. Well-known traditional singer Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh, like so many musicians, saw her income disappear abruptly. We saw her recording songs on video for online distribution as she coped with home educating her children. It brought home to me yet again how much I miss live music events.

Positive

In a similar vein Nationwide (RTÉ One) last Wednesday told the very positive story of Fr Pat Ward from the parish of Burtonport and Kincasslagh in Co. Donegal. During the first lockdown he had broadcast Mass on Facebook Live and gathered a following both national and international. He provided music by singing and playing his ukulele – we heard a distinctive version of the Lord’s Prayer. One of the funniest scenes was when he said “Alexa, play Hail Glorious St Patrick by Daniel O’Donnell”, the first time in my life I’ve heard that sentence! His broadcasts were followed by a rosary led by Rosaleen McShane. Fr Pat’s Mass and Rosaleen’s rosary inspired a song by John Gallagher. As lockdown eased Fr Pat could do small ceremonies (we saw a touching wedding anniversary blessing) and now under level five restrictions he is still creative, organising an ‘adopt-a-grave’ scheme whereby locals volunteer to maintain neglected graves.

Thank you reporter Niall Martin.

Pick of the Week

Mass

RTÉ One, Sunday Nov 29, 11.00 am

First Sunday of Advent – Fr Jim Fegan, parish priest of Ballindaggin, Co. Wexford celebrates Mass live. Music by the women’s vocal ensemble CREDO, directed by Eleanor Furlong.

The Hunger: The Story of The Irish Famine

RTÉ One Monday November 30, 9.35 pm

To mark the 175th anniversary of the Great Irish Famine the two-part series, narrated by Liam Neeson, reveals and develops a challenging analysis of the crisis.