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On why I make my stand.
17 years ago
Some of you may have read my piece "Birth of a Furry", some of you may not. But even that origin tale does little to fully express why I, or anyone, would choose to be Furry. Gar does an excellent piece on Furry in the negative, and I invite everyone to exert the effort to listen to his silibant tones. I, however, have another perspective.
Frederich Nietzchie described in his philosophies the idea of a will to power, that is violently siezing wisdom by ones own will and breaking its neck if it tries to run away. Many people in his time and after it abused this as the groundwork for ugenics and war crimes better left unspoken but in his core views Neitzchie was actually speaking to learning. If one wanted to learn, one should seek to learn actively. In his perview, picking up a book and reading it was different than picking up a book and trying to comprehend its deeper meaning. Anyone can read, one must have the will to learn, to understand.
In this way he was also speaking to a deeper conflict. Sigmund Freud described it as a war between Id, the beastial, and Ego, the higher brain function. We have added to this with the idea of Superego, that is the idea that social mores influence our Id-Ego conflict. His student, Jung, also expanded on it by making the claim that our minds were full of archetypes. Culturally universal images of the species that everyone had, so while Death might dress differently, all humans have a concept of Death therefore Death is an archetypical being.
For me then, Furry is a path to will to power when combined with my Asatru beliefs. Odin, all father of the Norse pagan pantheon, only requires three things of his followers when boiled down to simple truths: Honor or Integrity, Wisdom, and Courage. Note, I say courage, not battle. Battle as interpersonal combat is an outmoded concept spoken by people who lacked the formal education to describe their intents. Courage is not the assurance of warfare but the willingness to defend what one believes. I am a disabled person. I do not lie in my bed and die. That is courage. In spite of great physical pain and emotional turmoil, I go to class, I learn, and I seek higher wisdom. That is courage. And for those seeking battle, it is also a war. That same war with the self.
For myself, and for the all father, I have named my Id. My Id is a wolf. I cannot escape this fact, my Ego cannot slay the wolf. But with the society as my guide Wolf and Man, two profound personal archetypes, can work together to give me strength. To give me courage. With my will as one unified whole, and not two warring factions, my mind become claws and fangs with which I rend ignorance and injustice. By seeking the understand my inner animal and blending it in socially acceptable ways I have become a more whole person, and in my time of dying I will not look forward with fear.
Can any of you say the same?
Frederich Nietzchie described in his philosophies the idea of a will to power, that is violently siezing wisdom by ones own will and breaking its neck if it tries to run away. Many people in his time and after it abused this as the groundwork for ugenics and war crimes better left unspoken but in his core views Neitzchie was actually speaking to learning. If one wanted to learn, one should seek to learn actively. In his perview, picking up a book and reading it was different than picking up a book and trying to comprehend its deeper meaning. Anyone can read, one must have the will to learn, to understand.
In this way he was also speaking to a deeper conflict. Sigmund Freud described it as a war between Id, the beastial, and Ego, the higher brain function. We have added to this with the idea of Superego, that is the idea that social mores influence our Id-Ego conflict. His student, Jung, also expanded on it by making the claim that our minds were full of archetypes. Culturally universal images of the species that everyone had, so while Death might dress differently, all humans have a concept of Death therefore Death is an archetypical being.
For me then, Furry is a path to will to power when combined with my Asatru beliefs. Odin, all father of the Norse pagan pantheon, only requires three things of his followers when boiled down to simple truths: Honor or Integrity, Wisdom, and Courage. Note, I say courage, not battle. Battle as interpersonal combat is an outmoded concept spoken by people who lacked the formal education to describe their intents. Courage is not the assurance of warfare but the willingness to defend what one believes. I am a disabled person. I do not lie in my bed and die. That is courage. In spite of great physical pain and emotional turmoil, I go to class, I learn, and I seek higher wisdom. That is courage. And for those seeking battle, it is also a war. That same war with the self.
For myself, and for the all father, I have named my Id. My Id is a wolf. I cannot escape this fact, my Ego cannot slay the wolf. But with the society as my guide Wolf and Man, two profound personal archetypes, can work together to give me strength. To give me courage. With my will as one unified whole, and not two warring factions, my mind become claws and fangs with which I rend ignorance and injustice. By seeking the understand my inner animal and blending it in socially acceptable ways I have become a more whole person, and in my time of dying I will not look forward with fear.
Can any of you say the same?
I think so. But, I constantly contest it, just to make sure.