If my brother Dave sees this, I think he would say: "nice cows"! He has always loved raising animals and definitely has a knack for it. Not me! One cow looks pretty much like another to me. So, I guess I just don't get it! A lot of people would do almost anything to be just one of the group. Call it a herd complex mentality or whatever you want to, but it exists. When it comes to following God, you can't do this; here is an example of someone from the Bible who tried and failed.
1Sa 15:1 Samuel said to Saul, Yahweh sent me to anoint you to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore listen you to the voice of the words of Yahweh.
1Sa 15:2 Thus says Yahweh of Armies, I have marked that which Amalek did to Israel, how he set himself against him in the way, when he came up out of Egypt.
1Sa 15:3 Now go and strike Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and don't spare them; but kill both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.
1Sa 15:4 Saul summoned the people, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah.
1Sa 15:5 Saul came to the city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley.
1Sa 15:6 Saul said to the Kenites, Go, depart, go down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them; for you showed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.
1Sa 15:7 Saul struck the Amalekites, from Havilah as you go to Shur, that is before Egypt.
1Sa 15:8 He took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
1Sa 15:9 But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the cattle, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and wouldn't utterly destroy them: but everything that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.
and
1Sa 15:13 Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said to him, Blessed are you by Yahweh: I have performed the commandment of Yahweh.
1Sa 15:14 Samuel said, What means then this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the cattle which I hear?
1Sa 15:15 Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the cattle, to sacrifice to Yahweh your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.
1Sa 15:16 Then Samuel said to Saul, Stay, and I will tell you what Yahweh has said to me this night. He said to him, Say on.
1Sa 15:17 Samuel said, "Though you were little in your own sight, weren't you made the head of the tribes of Israel? Yahweh anointed you king over Israel;
1Sa 15:18 and Yahweh sent you on a journey, and said, 'Go, and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.'
1Sa 15:19 Why then didn't you obey the voice of Yahweh, but flew on the spoil, and did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh?"
1Sa 15:20 Saul said to Samuel, Yes, I have obeyed the voice of Yahweh, and have gone the way which Yahweh sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
1Sa 15:21 But the people took of the spoil, sheep and cattle, the chief of the devoted things, to sacrifice to Yahweh your God in Gilgal.
1Sa 15:22 Samuel said, Has Yahweh as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of Yahweh? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. World English Bible
There are times when going along with the group will get you into BIG TROUBLE and this episode from the book of first Samuel was one of them. God wants obedience, not will-worship! If the Bible says to do something, do it and don't worry what people think. It has been my experience that those people who really matter will try to understand. This doesn't mean that you should not be sensitive to the feelings of others, it just means you should have the right attitude towards God, first and foremost. So the next time your conscience tells you to do the right thing, don't be herded the wrong way; instead be bullish on God and follow his words; besides who likes crowds, anyway!