So often I hear individuals who I discuss the philosophy of veganism with, say, “you vegans are in a cult.” It’s actually become something of a running self-deprecating joke in the community. Upon hearing this for the several hundredth time, I did engage in some critical thought, on the subject, though. I’m actually quite pleased that I did, because the discovery that I made, yielded some incredible irony. The fact this has become the case is hardly surprising, if you do a little historical research, the exact same reaction was inspired by the abolitionists, who opposed the enslavement of humans of colour, and eventually fought for their liberation. They too were deemed a cult, by society. Likewise, those advocating for gay rights through the 1960’s – 1980’s were latterly written off as a cult. Even now, in today’s advanced social and sociological world, the LGBTQ+, the evolution of this movement, which collectively encompasses gay people, bisexuals, transgender people, and queer individuals, are constantly deemed a cult. It seems to me that any progressive movement which seeks justice, equity, kindness, but deviates from the status quo is written off as a cult. There is no logic associated with this, and it would serve just to be a hyperbolic exercise in anti-suggestion, whereby those in the majority attempt to manipulate and silence those marginalised groups who seek equitable change. In psychology, we would define this as either “status quo bias,” a state of bias against any deviation from the status quo, mostly due to either comfort in said status, or general fear of change. Eithet that or it could possible be “false consensus bias,” another cognitive bias whereby we see our behaviour as being justifiable due to it being common. People tend to adopt this in order to be universally liked and not challenge the status quo. Understandably, this would create an aversion to veganism
Of course we do now know that the vast majority of us cannot define what veganism actually is, but if we could, we would know in actuality, veganism is about as antithetical to what constitutes a cult, as it gets. I’ll tell you what I mean, but I wanted to actually reframe the issue from the flip side, which would be “carnism,” the contrast to veganism. Carnism, loosely defined, is the invisible belief system, or ideology, that conditions people to eat certain animals. Carnists support the general use and consumption of animal products. Both the denotation and connotation of the word send a frosty shiver down my spine. This ideology represents a word which we as a species deem ourselves to be so superior, that we exploit and brutally kill the most gentle, vulnerable beings on this planet. This has strong reminiscence of “anthropocentrism,” the philosophical belief which translates directly, as previously stated, to human supremacy. The mere introspective ponder on these very subjects leaves me feeling…icky. For want of a better term. It still bemuses me that such beliefs and ideologies are the prevailing belief systems of the masses, how badly we have lost our way, in society. Anyway, my personal discomfort aside, in actuality, when you really engage critically, into what carnism actually is, it begins to take the form very much of a cult, itself. Specially, that of a satanic cult. A descriptive understanding of fundamentals of cult composition can be found via numerous online resources such as Encyclopaedia Britannica and various similar reference points. A simple, and accurate understanding can be found via online encyclopaedia, Wikipedia:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult
At multiple points during my time living in New York, I interacted with cult-like behaviour. I met several people who were engaged in Scientology, and numerous extreme Judeo-Christian denominations such as Mormonism and Jehovah’s Witness. So anecodotally, I have identified it for myself. The characteristics of those individuals engaged in those extreme belief systems, directly paralleled the way that I believe carnists are engaged in their ideology. I’d love to break the key points down, one at a time and explain why I see carnism as being the biggest and most perennial cult to ever exist in human history. Through some research, it appears that the salient points which would identify and define a cult are consistent, but several other key traits would also be true in regard to satanic or demonic cults, specifically:
- Religion
- Charismatic leadership
- Indoctrination
- Ritualistic celebration & sacrifice
- Hedonism
- Blood consumption
Before getting into the actual scientific or sociological research on cults, if you look at works of fiction, in pop media, these traits would be representative of these demonic cults. At least society’s fictional ideation of what would constitute an evil satanic cult can be observed. The history of said cults have been spurious and much shrouded in mystery and secretive membership. Likewise, much of the cults from the past such as Aztec culture are lost to history and have less tangible historic evidence, society’s idea of a demonic cult may be our best referential point. If you look at works of cinema; films such as Kubrick’s “Eyes Wide Shut,” or particularly, Polanski’s “The Ninth Gate,” and “Rosemary’s Baby,” even more recent satirical versions such as Peele’s “Get Out” would all align with these specific traits, or at least specific ones to each context. At this point I’m making small but significant links, cumulatively, in terms of what we can observe about satanic cults, historically, before I apply said links to the above traits as evidence of the ubiquitous but insidious cult of carnism.
In terms of the studies, there is at least empirical evidence to suggest ritualistic abuse is prevalent in satanic cults. The exact same thing can clearly be observed in factory farms and butchery. Even ubiquitously in households (more on that specifically, later). A study published in
the 1990’s spotlighted this very notion, available via research website Pubmed:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7960286/
In terms of psychopathology, my initial offering to this website examined the psychological conditions associated with animal abuse. The recurring theme was the notion of psychopathy. Those personality types we observed most engaged in cruelty or abuse towards animals was that of diagnosed psychopaths. We also observed that those who empathised with animals the least also empathised similarly with humans. No need to summarise the article in detail, but what we observe clinically is a recurring diagnosis of conduct disorder or psychopathy in relation to animals abuse. The exact same clinical disorders can be observed in membership to satanic cults. The same disorders and individuals of low propensity for empathy do seem to be attracted towards animal abuse and satanic cult affiliation. Of course, are all those who consume meat abusing or being cruel to animals? Honestly…yes. Unknowingly, much of the time, hence, when realised, the inception of the philosophy of veganism. But that being said, there are a great many people, particularly in rural communities (as mentioned in article #2 in relation to sociology), that are well aware of the cruelty and horrors of meat production, but participate anyway. A coincidence between the two? I think not. The studies in question are available via research websites Pubmed and Sagepub:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1962303/
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/008124639302300404
To address each individual trait of cult membership in tether to carnism, we can examine referential points from our society which would be denotive of said relationship.
Religion: the vast majority of vegans in western society are atheist or agnostic. At least, the Vegetarian Resource Group and various surveys available on Research Gate, another educational research resource, would display that at least 50% are atheist alone, not taking into account agnostics. This would then latterly be followed by practitioners of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. There are specific, small denominations of Christianity like the Seventh Day Adventists in California, who are strictly vegetarian or vegan. However, carnists predominantly tend to be within Abrahamic faiths, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. I wouldn’t personally regard Hindus, Buddhists or Jainists, though individuals of faith, to be within universes of the criteria for cult behaviour, as their faiths are peaceful and largely antithetical to Satanic cult traits. However, the Abrahamic trinity would all seem to align perfectly. Classically, one of the most recurring arguments against animal exploitation abstinence would be appeals to authority towards the Quran, Torah, and bible. “God put animals here for us to eat,” after all. The definition of religious indoctrination is being brought or educated into a system of faith and instructed not to question it. This would extremely align with Abrahamic faiths, and familial deviation from said faiths would ubiquitously result in social ostracisation such as “shunning.” If this isn’t religions cult-like behaviour, nothing is.
Charismatic leadership: the salient factor of cult membership revolves around the notion of a charismatic leader who is treated broadly as a prophet, of sorts. A definition of this from Wikipedia would be, “typically led by a charismatic and self-appointed leader, who tightly controls its members, requiring unwavering devotion to a set of beliefs and practices.” Well, I don’t necessarily think either carnism or veganism completely fit this specific criteria. Veganism has no figurehead whatsoever, largely the most famous vegans are celebrities like Joaquin Phoenix, who even vegans are critical of regarding for instance riding horses in his newest professional endeavour, “Napoleon.” The vegan movement certainly has some more visible activists like Joey Carbstrong, who largely operates on donation from his patron-ship, and is arguably dictated by them, instead of vice versa. There’s are also individuals like Ed Winters, who operates similarly, and is absolutely not the face of veganism. This can be spotlighted by the fact he largely moves towards welfarism and “harm reduction” instead of animal rights, deviating potentially away from the vegan philosophy itself, and receiving a significant amount of critique, latterly. Even original leaders in the community like Gary Yourofsky, have received mountains of critique for his seemingly contrary views, and have long disappeared from activism. Carnism, likewise, certainly has some visible figures like Paul Saladino, Liver King, Sean Baker, etc. The only differential between veganism is, plant based diets, environmental science, bioethics, etc, are science based, where as carnist leaders are all dogmatic, anti-science, epidemiological flat earthers, and the butt of the largest amount of ridicule by nutritional scientists on the internet. Saladino and Baker have even stated the lack of validity of epidemiology, itself, as a scientific study matter. When all the scientific evidence is stacked against you, just deny the validity of science itself, I guess. Remember that definition of indoctrination I cited before? Cults are largely anti-evidence, contrarian and conspiratorial, in nature. This is brainwashing and cult behaviour at its best.
Indoctrination: to follow the indoctrinated, anti-evidence, anti-science narrative of the previous paragraph, I’d love to move on to the sociological, societal ideals of carnism. What I examined, and what we know is, societal norms largely dictate and perpetuate behaviours in society. Any deviation from societal norms is likely to be disruptive and cause discomfort, whether for positive or negative outcomes. From birth, we, at least in western society, are taught several key things about carnism. One, eating meat is normal. Two, eating meat js necessary for health. Three, eating meat is morally acceptable. This is the reality of western life and the way we are indoctrinated, from birth. Any challenge to these notions largely contributes to attracting acrimony and vitriol from society (citations shall be provided south of this paragraph). Social norms ingrained into us from birth, even when challenged with objective scientific data in regards to animal sentience and consciousness, epidemiological science and long term health outcome data from dietetics, or even biological or viral date showing the existential dilemmas meat consumption poses on society, are met largely with extreme malice. If this is not indoctrination, I sincerely do not know what is. Various citations to prove said claims are available via academic research websites, below:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/377327808_The_Structure_and_Correlates_of_Vegan_Stereotypes
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4552202/
Ritualistic celebration & sacrifice: well, this one is pretty easy. Ritualistic animal killing happens in the Bible, the Torah, and the Quran. They all mostly refer to slitting the throat of a lamb, or cow. For instance, Islam has a methodology called “halal,” whereby the animal has its throat slit and blood literally pours out. The animal isn’t even stunned to subvert the intense pain of the act, and this is deemed “respectful” to the animal. Judaism has a similar religious methodology called “shechitah,” and this is deemed “kosher” meaning ritualistically acceptable to the faith. In Christianity a ritual is performed whereby a crucifix is doused in the blood of a slaughtered animal. Likewise, within these faiths as well, there will be a ritualistic mutilation of the dead animal at familial events such as Christmas, Thanksgiving, Passover and Hannukkah. This will normally involve literally mutilating the animal flesh and serving it to the family where they will all ritualistically celebrate and rejoice while consuming a ritualistically sacrificed sentient being. Sounds perverse doesn’t it? But this is a seemingly normal part of the society we live in. A key part of mysticism in satanic cults would also have an animal, and sometimes human ritualistic sacrifice to appease their deity. The ancient Aztecs even partook in this. Ritualistic blood sacrifice is a key part of satanic cultism and carnism.
Hedonism: again, doesn’t require a great degree of thinking. Meat consumption has historically been attributed to affluence. The peasants would be consuming produce, grown cheaply from the earth, while the elite would feast on steak and milk. Even Cleopatra famously bathed in milk, to resonate the degree of opulence her position entailed. Meat and dairy have always historically been a delicacy for the wealthy and affluent, a hedonistic pleasure. Today, we mostly consume meat, similarly, for taste. The most common argument you will hear, when a carnist is genuine, at least, is their justification for consuming meat is because they like the taste. Meat consumption is corrosive for human health, the data is very clear on this, and in reality nobody sources their nutrition from McDonald’s or KFC for health. The reason we consume meat is for hedonistic sensory pleasure. The most upmarket, affluent restaurants in the world are those which will be selling lamb, veal, caviar, golden Tomahawk steaks, lobster, etc. Food is one of the main hedonistic what we call “visceral drives” in psychology, of society, in conjunction with money, sex, entertainment, etc. There is a concept in psychology called “hedonic adaptation” whereby we engage in a behaviour that gives us pleasure, but either causes us some kind of disgust, or causes another, pain, in the process. The more we engage in this hedonistic behaviour, the more our cognitive functions adapt, and become comfortable with it, reducing the disgust, or the cognitive dissonance which follows it. This is the exact same psychological process of rape, and this is a paragon of what carnism is. It’s been noted through history that satanic cults were synonymous, particularly, for hedonistic sexual orgies, and social group parties of meat and wine consumption. The notion of hedonism is rooted deeply in both carnism and satanic cultism.
Blood consumption: lastly, a pretty simple explanation. When consuming meat, you are consuming the blood of animals. Even dairy will have trace amounts of blood as well. This is particularly true for red meat, and the more “rare” the meat is cooked, the more blood particles of the animal will be intact. The amount of blood consumed isn’t significant, but it’s consumed nonetheless. The type of iron, particularly, consumed from meat, called “heme iron,” comes from the blood of the animal being condemned. Heme is an iron-containing compound of the porphyrin class which forms the non-protein part of haemoglobin. Haemoglobin is a protein which comes from red blood cells. Yup, that’s correct, that iron you’re consuming from meat comes from red blood cells. The iron consumed is red blood cells of animals. I don’t think it requires much explanation to explain that satanic cults were infamous for that of blood consumption. Ultimately it was customary to drink from a ritualistic cup, of the blood of the sacrificed animal, or even human. In religious faiths, this is done symbolically also. Christians perform a ritual called holy communion where they drink wine or grape juice that symbolises the blood of Jesus Christ. Even as a former Christian, the notion itself even figuratively did not rest well with me, and I would never take holy communion. Blood consumption is key to both cultish religious faiths, satanic cults themselves, and carnism.
- I believe I rest my case. The most deeply brainwashed of cult members are those who didn’t believe they were part of a cult at all. Charles Manson’s “Manson Family” cult genuinely believed they were enlightened, anointed, and that everybody else in the world were blind to the truths, of life. The more recent controversial cult, “Nxivm” likewise believed they were working towards a false realisation of enlightenment and truth. A classic historic trait of cult membership would be an extreme belief system of sorts which asserts they have knowledge of some greater truth that humanity doesn’t have. I believe in regards to veganism, humanity knows that killing animals is wrong, inherently. This has been my experience with nearly every individual I have debated, on this front. So veganism is not some elevated enlightenment of a greater truth, it’s coming to terms with the reality of what you know to be the case, and acting accordingly. Aligning morals with ethics. Carnists however are indoctrinated into this “normalised” system of killing innocent sentient beings, and believe any who have the temerity to deviate from this, are psychologically inept. I have often been called “mentally unwell” purely for empathising with and caring for animals, many times. How ironic. Carnists are indoctrinated, mostly deeply religious, hedonistic, ritualistic and consumers of blood. The parallels between satanic cultism, or generally cultism, and carnism, are undeniable. I’m relatively spiritual myself, though my beliefs are self-constructed, and I see carnism as the greatest evil in this world. The darkest aspects of the human soul. To me, veganism is about walking to the light. Not in a religious sense, but perhaps more in relation to Plato’s famous allegory or the cave, as an enlightenment through knowledge, instead of spirituality. And I hope with this knowledge, this power, this responsibility we have, as vegans, as activists, as humans, we can lead people towards the light, the truth, and a more compassionate future.