Jordan Peterson has never said a word about Mormonism. But the demythologizing argument he's known for is letting believing Mormons stay despite doubting the church's own history.
We trace the demythologizing move from Rudolf Bultmann's 1940s theology through Paul Tillich and Joseph Campbell to Jordan Peterson, whose audience is 91% male by his own count. We cover the Sam Harris/Peterson Making Sense exchange on truth and fitness, Pew retention data showing younger Mormon women now leaving faster than Mormon men, the Strengthening Church Members Committee documented by D. Michael Quinn, the SEC's 2023 Ensign Peak Advisors settlement, and Helen Mar Kimball's sealing to Joseph Smith at fourteen. The church doesn't need the myth to hold up. It just needs you to keep showing up.
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