WI: Mormonism Adopts Veganism?

Okay, first off, is this even in the REALM of non-ASB possibility, or is this so ASB it will be moved instantly?:p Also, is this even possible health wise before 1900? If the latter is no... please delete this.

With that in mind, what if Mormonism adopted Veganism as a core tenant. Would it be as popular of a religion today? Will this significantly affect the US food industry? How will this affect religion politically in the long run?
 

Philip

Donor
SDA was founded after LDS, is vegetarian, and larger than LDS. I don't think it would necessarily deter LDS growth or the US food industry.

The biggest effect on the LDS might be seen in their migrations.
 

Zioneer

Banned
Veganism is ASB I think (LDS folks have a long tradition of using animal products), but adopting at least vegetarianism is a reasonable change. Heck, I myself have mused about dropping all meat but bacon and beef jerky (I can't resist either one) from my diet. I do prefer veggies to most meat, and I find the LDS tradition of eating massive amounts of meat to be a bit disconcerting in light of the Word of Wisdom.

Wiki says this about meat:

The Word of Wisdom states that meat should not be eaten, except "in times of winter, or of cold, or famine".[18] From 1898 to 1901, church president Lorenzo Snow repeatedly emphasized the importance of eating meat sparingly, teaching that church members should refrain from eating meat except in case of dire necessity, and should be seen in light of Joseph Smith's teaching that animals have spirits.[39] Apostle George Teasdale taught the same thing, and held that eating pork was a more serious breach of the Word of Wisdom than drinking tea or coffee.[39] Compliance with this injunction has never been made mandatory. When Joseph F. Smith succeeded Snow as president of the church in 1901, the emphasis on refraining from meat was dropped.[39] An official church publication states "[m]odern methods of refrigeration now make it possible to preserve meat in any season".[40]

Have a culturally bad experience with meat (maybe a bunch of meat spoils and causes many Mormons to die or fall ill?) in the pioneer era, and perhaps you can have the Mormons adopt vegetarianism as a traditional (though not required) thing.
 
Veganism is ASB I think (LDS folks have a long tradition of using animal products), but adopting at least vegetarianism is a reasonable change. Heck, I myself have mused about dropping all meat but bacon and beef jerky (I can't resist either one) from my diet. I do prefer veggies to most meat, and I find the LDS tradition of eating massive amounts of meat to be a bit disconcerting in light of the Word of Wisdom.

Wiki says this about meat:



Have a culturally bad experience with meat (maybe a bunch of meat spoils and causes many Mormons to die or fall ill?) in the pioneer era, and perhaps you can have the Mormons adopt vegetarianism as a traditional (though not required) thing.

Ah, I see, thank you.:) But yeah, removing animal products period I realize is kind of impossible in the time it's founded, but removing meat eating certainly isn't, although may require some somewhat bizarre PODs like perhaps a mad cow like disease.
 

Zioneer

Banned
Ah, I see, thank you.:) But yeah, removing animal products period I realize is kind of impossible in the time it's founded, but removing meat eating certainly isn't, although may require some somewhat bizarre PODs like perhaps a mad cow like disease.

Sure; a mad cow-esque pandemic happening could easily be arranged as a PoD, and could lead to interesting cultural side-effects for the Mormons (example, they could sell the meat of chickens to non-Mormons, while only using the eggs for themselves).

If this vegetarianism stays past the polygamy stage (remember, the Mormons reversed a lot of their cultural traditions after dropping polygamy), then it could lead to fun perceptions of Mormons.
 
Interesting stuff from MormonMobster. I assumed it was pretty unlikely: the Mormons seem much more heavily into the Old Testament than other Christians, and that's pretty clear that meat can be eaten (as long as its kosher).

What other cultural traditions did they drop with polygamy?
 
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