How the All-Meat Diet Reveals the Rise of Modern Religions
Because everybody needs to believe in something
In this three-part series, we’ll explore why the decline of traditional religion doesn’t mean the end of spirituality.
__
Meet Liver King.
He’s a media personality caricature repping the “all-meat diet.” He chomps animal brains to win big in the attention economy, as much as he fights for the reassessment of what a more nutritious diet may entail.
His success primarily lies in attention.
Many dismiss his honesty. There are countless videos “exposing” his regimen and potential steroid use. But controversy only adds to his hyper-masculine mythology.
His carnivore diet has been around for as long as the internet has. The pitch includes weight loss, increased energy, higher testosterone, and mental clarity.
But several more drivers are now giving this “lifestyle” newfound energy.
First, it’s never been easier to get in touch with a tribe of like-minded thinkers. Exposed via algorithmic means, an odd practice effortlessly reaches millions. A video—or the mere thumbnail of one—is an invite for potential inductees. With this, we can now choose our own adventure of truth and determine what’s healthiest for us.
Second, the attention around the all-meat diet has risen with the larger adoption of veganism—also coincidently driven by health benefits. The blossoming of plant-based diets has allowed a counter trend to enter and thrive. It’s no surprise that we see the carnivore diet rage in a moment when meat alternatives are increasingly finding their way onto menus.
After all, many cultural trends are just tensions. Equal and opposite reactions: Trend, counter-trend; Cause, effect.
Meat consumption also symbolizes status and mastery over one’s domain—one which is currently aflame and we’re hastily losing. Promoting one’s machismo dominance is also quite timely as we simultaneously evolve beyond a gender binary.
Again: Trend, counter-trend.
Back to Liver King…. A six pack, grizzly beard, and bloody goat intestines appear to run counter to animal rights, environmental decline, and gender fluidity.
And here lies the ultimate overarching pitch and final driver to this all-meat diet: Identity and the community that comes along with it.
You don’t even have to consume the raw liver. You just have to consume the content.
The all-meat diet is a starter pack of values.
Worship him or ridicule him—either gives you the opportunity to express your beliefs, find a vocal role in this world, and get closer to those who feel the same about animals, the environment, or gender.
Modern Religions
In her book, Strange Rites: New Religions for a Godless World, Tara Isabella Burton reminds us that religion is more than places of worship or mere deities.
Religion can be anything that provides meaning, purpose, ritual, and community.
An all-meat diet is a religion. And Liver King is our high priest.
In Strange Rites, Burton writes, “Back in 2007, 15% of Americans called themselves religiously unaffiliated, meaning that they didn’t consider themselves to be members of any traditional organized religion. By 2012, that number had risen to 20%, and to 30% when it came to adults under thirty. Now, those numbers are higher. About a quarter of American adults say they have no religion. And when you look at young millennials—those born after 1990—those numbers reach almost 40%.”
But while younger generations claim to be “less religious,” that’s not to say they aren’t rabidly seeking spirituality, answers, or belonging.
Definitions and modern examples of religion just haven’t caught up to the surveys.
Outside of entertainment fandom, more glaring today is that politics and social justice have become our loudest religious replacements.
In her article for The Atlantic, “How Social Justice Became a New Religion,” staff writer Helen Lewis says, “Many common social-justice phrases have echoes of a catechism: announcing your pronouns or performing a land acknowledgment shows allegiance to a common belief, reassuring a group that everyone present shares the same values.
“But treating politics like a religion also makes it more emotionally volatile, more tribal (because differences of opinion become matters of good and evil) and more prone to outbreaks of moralizing and piety.”
As Burton points out, “A full 72% of the Nones [those who are religion-less] say they believe in, if not the God of the Bible, at least something.”
Today, righteousness is up for creative interpretation and gospel is co-written in the comments.
Apr 26, 2023
·
5 min read
How the All-Meat Diet Reveals the Rise of Modern Religions
Because everybody needs to believe in something
In this three-part series, we’ll explore why the decline of traditional religion doesn’t mean the end of spirituality.
__
Meet Liver King.
He’s a media personality caricature repping the “all-meat diet.” He chomps animal brains to win big in the attention economy, as much as he fights for the reassessment of what a more nutritious diet may entail.
His success primarily lies in attention.
Many dismiss his honesty. There are countless videos “exposing” his regimen and potential steroid use. But controversy only adds to his hyper-masculine mythology.
His carnivore diet has been around for as long as the internet has. The pitch includes weight loss, increased energy, higher testosterone, and mental clarity.
But several more drivers are now giving this “lifestyle” newfound energy.
First, it’s never been easier to get in touch with a tribe of like-minded thinkers. Exposed via algorithmic means, an odd practice effortlessly reaches millions. A video—or the mere thumbnail of one—is an invite for potential inductees. With this, we can now choose our own adventure of truth and determine what’s healthiest for us.
Second, the attention around the all-meat diet has risen with the larger adoption of veganism—also coincidently driven by health benefits. The blossoming of plant-based diets has allowed a counter trend to enter and thrive. It’s no surprise that we see the carnivore diet rage in a moment when meat alternatives are increasingly finding their way onto menus.
After all, many cultural trends are just tensions. Equal and opposite reactions: Trend, counter-trend; Cause, effect.
Meat consumption also symbolizes status and mastery over one’s domain—one which is currently aflame and we’re hastily losing. Promoting one’s machismo dominance is also quite timely as we simultaneously evolve beyond a gender binary.
Again: Trend, counter-trend.
Back to Liver King…. A six pack, grizzly beard, and bloody goat intestines appear to run counter to animal rights, environmental decline, and gender fluidity.
And here lies the ultimate overarching pitch and final driver to this all-meat diet: Identity and the community that comes along with it.
You don’t even have to consume the raw liver. You just have to consume the content.
The all-meat diet is a starter pack of values.
Worship him or ridicule him—either gives you the opportunity to express your beliefs, find a vocal role in this world, and get closer to those who feel the same about animals, the environment, or gender.
Modern Religions
In her book, Strange Rites: New Religions for a Godless World, Tara Isabella Burton reminds us that religion is more than places of worship or mere deities.
Religion can be anything that provides meaning, purpose, ritual, and community.
An all-meat diet is a religion. And Liver King is our high priest.
In Strange Rites, Burton writes, “Back in 2007, 15% of Americans called themselves religiously unaffiliated, meaning that they didn’t consider themselves to be members of any traditional organized religion. By 2012, that number had risen to 20%, and to 30% when it came to adults under thirty. Now, those numbers are higher. About a quarter of American adults say they have no religion. And when you look at young millennials—those born after 1990—those numbers reach almost 40%.”
But while younger generations claim to be “less religious,” that’s not to say they aren’t rabidly seeking spirituality, answers, or belonging.
Definitions and modern examples of religion just haven’t caught up to the surveys.
Outside of entertainment fandom, more glaring today is that politics and social justice have become our loudest religious replacements.
In her article for The Atlantic, “How Social Justice Became a New Religion,” staff writer Helen Lewis says, “Many common social-justice phrases have echoes of a catechism: announcing your pronouns or performing a land acknowledgment shows allegiance to a common belief, reassuring a group that everyone present shares the same values.
“But treating politics like a religion also makes it more emotionally volatile, more tribal (because differences of opinion become matters of good and evil) and more prone to outbreaks of moralizing and piety.”
As Burton points out, “A full 72% of the Nones [those who are religion-less] say they believe in, if not the God of the Bible, at least something.”
Today, righteousness is up for creative interpretation and gospel is co-written in the comments.
Apr 26, 2023
·
5 min read
How the All-Meat Diet Reveals the Rise of Modern Religions
Because everybody needs to believe in something
In this three-part series, we’ll explore why the decline of traditional religion doesn’t mean the end of spirituality.
__
Meet Liver King.
He’s a media personality caricature repping the “all-meat diet.” He chomps animal brains to win big in the attention economy, as much as he fights for the reassessment of what a more nutritious diet may entail.
His success primarily lies in attention.
Many dismiss his honesty. There are countless videos “exposing” his regimen and potential steroid use. But controversy only adds to his hyper-masculine mythology.
His carnivore diet has been around for as long as the internet has. The pitch includes weight loss, increased energy, higher testosterone, and mental clarity.
But several more drivers are now giving this “lifestyle” newfound energy.
First, it’s never been easier to get in touch with a tribe of like-minded thinkers. Exposed via algorithmic means, an odd practice effortlessly reaches millions. A video—or the mere thumbnail of one—is an invite for potential inductees. With this, we can now choose our own adventure of truth and determine what’s healthiest for us.
Second, the attention around the all-meat diet has risen with the larger adoption of veganism—also coincidently driven by health benefits. The blossoming of plant-based diets has allowed a counter trend to enter and thrive. It’s no surprise that we see the carnivore diet rage in a moment when meat alternatives are increasingly finding their way onto menus.
After all, many cultural trends are just tensions. Equal and opposite reactions: Trend, counter-trend; Cause, effect.
Meat consumption also symbolizes status and mastery over one’s domain—one which is currently aflame and we’re hastily losing. Promoting one’s machismo dominance is also quite timely as we simultaneously evolve beyond a gender binary.
Again: Trend, counter-trend.
Back to Liver King…. A six pack, grizzly beard, and bloody goat intestines appear to run counter to animal rights, environmental decline, and gender fluidity.
And here lies the ultimate overarching pitch and final driver to this all-meat diet: Identity and the community that comes along with it.
You don’t even have to consume the raw liver. You just have to consume the content.
The all-meat diet is a starter pack of values.
Worship him or ridicule him—either gives you the opportunity to express your beliefs, find a vocal role in this world, and get closer to those who feel the same about animals, the environment, or gender.
Modern Religions
In her book, Strange Rites: New Religions for a Godless World, Tara Isabella Burton reminds us that religion is more than places of worship or mere deities.
Religion can be anything that provides meaning, purpose, ritual, and community.
An all-meat diet is a religion. And Liver King is our high priest.
In Strange Rites, Burton writes, “Back in 2007, 15% of Americans called themselves religiously unaffiliated, meaning that they didn’t consider themselves to be members of any traditional organized religion. By 2012, that number had risen to 20%, and to 30% when it came to adults under thirty. Now, those numbers are higher. About a quarter of American adults say they have no religion. And when you look at young millennials—those born after 1990—those numbers reach almost 40%.”
But while younger generations claim to be “less religious,” that’s not to say they aren’t rabidly seeking spirituality, answers, or belonging.
Definitions and modern examples of religion just haven’t caught up to the surveys.
Outside of entertainment fandom, more glaring today is that politics and social justice have become our loudest religious replacements.
In her article for The Atlantic, “How Social Justice Became a New Religion,” staff writer Helen Lewis says, “Many common social-justice phrases have echoes of a catechism: announcing your pronouns or performing a land acknowledgment shows allegiance to a common belief, reassuring a group that everyone present shares the same values.
“But treating politics like a religion also makes it more emotionally volatile, more tribal (because differences of opinion become matters of good and evil) and more prone to outbreaks of moralizing and piety.”
As Burton points out, “A full 72% of the Nones [those who are religion-less] say they believe in, if not the God of the Bible, at least something.”
Today, righteousness is up for creative interpretation and gospel is co-written in the comments.
Apr 26, 2023
·
5 min read
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Subscribe to our weekly newsletter so you never miss a story.
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Subscribe to our weekly newsletter so you never miss a story.
