What’s Beef? – A Story About Rationalising

My wife Karen made a beef casserole for the first time, leading our five year-old Hayden to ask, “What’s Beef?”

“It’s a cow.” We responded.

“A cow?” He exclaimed.  “What other farm animals do we eat?’  He asked suspiciously. 

Karen and I looked at each other.  Hayden loves animals and this could be interesting.  It was my turn to do the explaining.  I talked about pigs and sheep.  Then I mentioned chicken.

“Oh yeah, I know about chicken.”  Hayden said.  He sat there quietly thinking for a few moments before proclaiming, “The cows we eat were all bad guys.”

He had gone from being surprised and almost outraged to rationalising why we ate beef.

As adults, we often do the same, but in a much less endearing fashion. 

What are some of the dangerous rationalisations that we use?