Vegetarianism, or the Benefit of Following the Pack

By: Christopher

Everywhere you look, people are following the pack. Actually, that is the definition of following the pack. It just so happens that the pack is being really pretentious these days; the pack is becoming vegetarians. While there is a variety of reasons that people become vegetarians, I will just focus on one reason for the point of this post, however, the same argument can be applied to most reasons.

Many vegetarians today believe that the meat industry is detrimental to our environment. In order to protect the environment, they stop benefiting the meat industry by refusing to buy meat, and in turn become vegetarians. Many people (including myself) respond to this in disgust. Why would someone cut out an essential nutrient just to follow the pack?

Even if someone is helping the environment just to be "cool" around their friends, it is still beneficial in the long run. The obvious argument is that it does not matter if their reason is a phony one, the environment will still benefit and you should be happy. The more subtle reason is that it cultivates the phony vegetarian into a more environmentally conscious individual that will continue to be environmentally conscious later in life.

There is a story about a pilgrim that desperately wants to know what it means when the Bible says to pray incessantly. He does not understand what is truly required of him, so he finds a mentor who can help. The mentor tells him that all he needs to do is repeat "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me" over and over. The mentor explains the beauty in this method; you only need to say the words. You don't even need to believe them, just move your lips and say the words. Eventually, the words become activating and something happens where it synchronizes with your heartbeat and pumps through your veins. It transforms your whole outlook, just by initially saying meaningless words.

Many religious groups follow this same practice. The Nembutsu Buddhists repeat "Namu Amida Butsu" (Praises to the Bhudda) continually until it becomes a part of their life. Likewise, the Cloud of Unknowing asks followers to repeat "God." I don't know what my Muslim friend says when she prays, but she has a string with 100 beads on it that she uses to count while she repeats a phrase 100 times.

All these religions are using the same technique that my vegetarian friends use to save the environment. If they continually do something (not eat meat) to save the environment, regardless of their true intentions or if they even care about the environment, it will eventually synchronize with their heart and pump through their veins. When they grow into an adult, they will be more environmentally conscious and maybe will even recycle.

Source: Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger