“I love animals, yet I eat them.”
“But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” (James 1:27)
“I love animals, yet I eat them.” How many times have you been a “hearer” of this statement from a friend or family member? How many times has your statement about their statement been something like James 1:27: “This friend or family member is a hearer of their word but clearly not a doer of their word?” If someone says they love animals, they shouldn’t be eating them, right? This article is about their statement and how their statement is cognitive dissonance. Focusing on James 1:27, we will discuss cognitive dissonance (“deceiving yourselves”) to get to the Biblical heart of the matter (“not deceiving yourselves”) where the title of this article is concerned.
In psychology circles, cognitive dissonance is defined as “the perception of contradictory information.” It’s basically when someone says one thing but does another. It’s basically when someone says, “I love animals, yet I eat them.” It’s basically James 1:27, when someone’s “talk” doesn’t match their “walk.” This sets up for this someone an internal conflict, a dissonant exclamation of “I say one thing, but I do another.”
When someone says, “I love animals, yet I eat them,” something conflicting happens inside their body. Someone will feel an “un-ease” which can lead to all sorts of “dis-ease,” manifesting over time into diseases such as high blood pressure, heart attacks, and strokes. According to a study done by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), researchers conducted a cognitive study that measured the EEGs of human subjects during rest and free-choice paradigms. Their conclusion? “Our study demonstrates that choices associated with stronger cognitive dissonance trigger a larger negative frontocentral-evoked response similar to error-related negativity, which has in turn been implicated in general performance monitoring.” What this means is that someone is negatively impacted in cognitive dissonance which breeds negative actions and attitudes. It sets the stage for someone to say, “I love animals, yet I eat them.” But does any of this cognitive dissonance give way to Biblical dissonance?
In Romans 7:15, Paul said, “For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.” In the context of “I love animals, yet I eat them,” someone is saying they love animals, yet they practice a lack of love, i.e., no mercy, for the very animals they claim to love. Paul is telling us the solution to this dissonant dilemma is that someone must rely on God’s Will, the Will of the Holy Spirit (not the will of the flesh) to know what they are doing and what they are understanding. If not the Will of the Holy Spirit, they will not practice what they will to do and will end up doing what they hate (cognitive and Biblical dissonance). But a question still remains: Is God’s Will, the Will of the Holy Spirit (not the will of the flesh), to love animals and not eat them?
In the Garden of Eden, God instructed Adam and Eve to be good stewards to His Creation, BOTH humans and nonhuman animals. God also instructed BOTH humans and nonhuman animals with a Command of nourishment: “I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food” (Genesis 1:29). Some might argue that God changed his mind about Genesis 1:29 after the Flood but did God? Some cannot argue, though, that God is “no variation or shadow of turning” (James 1:17). Given this, we have the Biblical assurance (not dissonance) that God did not change his mind about Genesis 1:29 after the Flood.
A Holy Remedy for BOTH cognitive and Biblical dissonance is to return to God’s Garden where it “Began Vegan”. It “Began Vegan” and it’s still vegan, someone’s “talk” matching their “walk,” “doers of the Word and not hearers only,” “not deceiving yourselves,” and, in the end, someone to say:
“I love animals, therefore I don’t eat them.”
Don’t know about you, but that sounds just like Biblical “Bliss”onance to me!
Timothy J. Verret received his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Drama from the University of Texas at Austin (UTA). He is an animal welfare advocate who co-founded CHAIN FREE AUSTIN, which successfully passed a dog-chaining ban in October of 2007 for the city of Austin, Texas. Timothy always seeks to bridge his artistic skills with his compassion and love for God’s Animals.
Photo by Benjamin Wedemeyer on Unsplash
Dag Nybo
I fall into the cognitive dissonance category :(