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† Can a Christian be a Furry? †
9 years ago
General
Take no one at their word, but test everything against what you know to be true: the Bible. Be like the Bereans (Acts 17:11).
Please forgive me, because even I find this tacky, but given my high degree of visibility within the cross-section of the Christian and furry communities, I feel like I'm inviting malicious speculation if I don't offer the following explanation:
Over the past year, I've had several opportunities to ask self-identifying furries the question "what makes someone a 'furry' to you?" Almost unfailingly, they would give an answer like "well, usually it's someone who likes furry art, but I guess it's anyone who wants to call him/herself a 'furry.'" I never much cared for that answer, because it means that the word lacks any normative content for evaluating the claim. I started rephrasing the question as "how would you describe the prototypical person who considers him/herself a furry?" To this, it seemed that furries either lacked the level of introspection to offer an answer, or were just philosophically opposed to "categorizing" people, as though pattern-observation was in some way a violation of the unwritten rule of abject-tolerance.
So I took it upon myself to study my surroundings. For the longest time, I considered myself a "furry" because "hey, I'm into the art, I like playing monstrous races in tabletop games, etc." After spending a little over a year actually getting to know several members in the community at a personal level, I started to realize something: I really have nothing in common with the average "furry." Sure, we both like anthropomorphic art, but that was where our similarities end. Note: I'm not referring to general interests, because naturally there was some overlap there; I'm talking about worldviews (perceptions of truth, reality, morality, values), maturity levels, conversational intellect, etc. Here's what I discovered...
- For years, I argued that "not all furries are perverts; that's just a fringe-minority giving the rest of the community a bad name." The truth is, of furries that I have routinely socialized with over the past year (sample size of approximately 100 individuals), the OVERWHELMING majority are obsessed with talking about sex and fetishes, a large proportion of which is completely incompatible with the biblical worldview.
- Most furries view "inclusiveness" as chief among virtues. While controversial subjects might be considered taboo, very rarely is something condemned as outrightly "wrong" or "immoral." In most cases, the greater evil is to introduce a topic that potentially ostracizes an individual because (if I may be frank) they enjoy their favorite sin too much to be confronted about its potential perils, even in a private, humble and secularly-reasoned manner. This, too, is incompatible with biblical morality.
- Maturity levels tend to be rather low relative to the age of the individual. Before you chalk this up to a pet-peeve, consider the observation that "furry culture" tends to be enabling. Rather than rationally considering solutions to a problem, the vast majority of instances I observed saw the flames of drama fanned higher, in the interest of "camaraderie." Commiserating over inconveniences and perceived slights is treated as a favored form of bonding. Dissenting opinions, however well-reasoned, will typically be viewed as "rude" or "intolerant" or "callous." Honestly, this may be more of a generation problem, with millenials growing up with the notion that feelings trump rational evaluations. Nevertheless, I bring it up because it furthers my following point...
I no longer believe that I can rightly call myself a "furry." My worldview does not fit the ethos of the prototypical "furry," and if I'm being perfectly honest, I never really felt comfortable calling myself a "furry" without qualifying the statement by saying "but I'm not one of the weird ones." Why do I share this with you all? Namely because I don't believe I am the kind of Christian leader this community is looking for. Make no mistake, I believe the community needs to hear an unapologetic, logic-based exposition and defense of the Christian faith, and that is something I can gladly provide. But my observations have shown me that this community is looking for someone with a much gentler touch than I feel comfortable providing. It has never come naturally to me to offer myself as a "shoulder to cry on." That isn't my personality, and as I told one person (I genuinely forget who you are, so please don't take offense to this.): "I cannot help you until you're willing to start taking your faith seriously."
Can a Christian be a "furry?" I've said this before and my opinion has not changed: there is nothing about liking anthropomorphic art that is incompatible with the Christian faith. That being said, the way in which one might consider me a "furry" is literally tangential to the norm; I like the art, but I am wholly dissimilar from the average "furry" in every other aforementioned way. To that end, while the furry community is certainly still filled with folks who need the light of Christ shined upon their lives, I no longer feel that I can honestly consider myself a "part" of the community, nor do I feel that remaining a part of it would be conducive to this goal. So, effectively immediately, I have disabled my personal accounts both here and elsewhere within the furry community. I will not be shutting down this page, and will continue to answer notes (probably concisely) for the time being, but I do expect to transfer ownership of this account to someone else in the near future. If I was discussing something with you on my personal account, and you would like to continue that discussion, please copy my last reply into a new message and PM me here. If you would like me to consider handing the reigns of C-F over to you, please send me a PM with the title "CF Candidate" and give me a brief overview of your theology, what you would hope to do with this account, and why you believe you would be a good witness to the folks here on FA.
Yours in Christ,
John Prester
Over the past year, I've had several opportunities to ask self-identifying furries the question "what makes someone a 'furry' to you?" Almost unfailingly, they would give an answer like "well, usually it's someone who likes furry art, but I guess it's anyone who wants to call him/herself a 'furry.'" I never much cared for that answer, because it means that the word lacks any normative content for evaluating the claim. I started rephrasing the question as "how would you describe the prototypical person who considers him/herself a furry?" To this, it seemed that furries either lacked the level of introspection to offer an answer, or were just philosophically opposed to "categorizing" people, as though pattern-observation was in some way a violation of the unwritten rule of abject-tolerance.
So I took it upon myself to study my surroundings. For the longest time, I considered myself a "furry" because "hey, I'm into the art, I like playing monstrous races in tabletop games, etc." After spending a little over a year actually getting to know several members in the community at a personal level, I started to realize something: I really have nothing in common with the average "furry." Sure, we both like anthropomorphic art, but that was where our similarities end. Note: I'm not referring to general interests, because naturally there was some overlap there; I'm talking about worldviews (perceptions of truth, reality, morality, values), maturity levels, conversational intellect, etc. Here's what I discovered...
- For years, I argued that "not all furries are perverts; that's just a fringe-minority giving the rest of the community a bad name." The truth is, of furries that I have routinely socialized with over the past year (sample size of approximately 100 individuals), the OVERWHELMING majority are obsessed with talking about sex and fetishes, a large proportion of which is completely incompatible with the biblical worldview.
- Most furries view "inclusiveness" as chief among virtues. While controversial subjects might be considered taboo, very rarely is something condemned as outrightly "wrong" or "immoral." In most cases, the greater evil is to introduce a topic that potentially ostracizes an individual because (if I may be frank) they enjoy their favorite sin too much to be confronted about its potential perils, even in a private, humble and secularly-reasoned manner. This, too, is incompatible with biblical morality.
- Maturity levels tend to be rather low relative to the age of the individual. Before you chalk this up to a pet-peeve, consider the observation that "furry culture" tends to be enabling. Rather than rationally considering solutions to a problem, the vast majority of instances I observed saw the flames of drama fanned higher, in the interest of "camaraderie." Commiserating over inconveniences and perceived slights is treated as a favored form of bonding. Dissenting opinions, however well-reasoned, will typically be viewed as "rude" or "intolerant" or "callous." Honestly, this may be more of a generation problem, with millenials growing up with the notion that feelings trump rational evaluations. Nevertheless, I bring it up because it furthers my following point...
I no longer believe that I can rightly call myself a "furry." My worldview does not fit the ethos of the prototypical "furry," and if I'm being perfectly honest, I never really felt comfortable calling myself a "furry" without qualifying the statement by saying "but I'm not one of the weird ones." Why do I share this with you all? Namely because I don't believe I am the kind of Christian leader this community is looking for. Make no mistake, I believe the community needs to hear an unapologetic, logic-based exposition and defense of the Christian faith, and that is something I can gladly provide. But my observations have shown me that this community is looking for someone with a much gentler touch than I feel comfortable providing. It has never come naturally to me to offer myself as a "shoulder to cry on." That isn't my personality, and as I told one person (I genuinely forget who you are, so please don't take offense to this.): "I cannot help you until you're willing to start taking your faith seriously."
Can a Christian be a "furry?" I've said this before and my opinion has not changed: there is nothing about liking anthropomorphic art that is incompatible with the Christian faith. That being said, the way in which one might consider me a "furry" is literally tangential to the norm; I like the art, but I am wholly dissimilar from the average "furry" in every other aforementioned way. To that end, while the furry community is certainly still filled with folks who need the light of Christ shined upon their lives, I no longer feel that I can honestly consider myself a "part" of the community, nor do I feel that remaining a part of it would be conducive to this goal. So, effectively immediately, I have disabled my personal accounts both here and elsewhere within the furry community. I will not be shutting down this page, and will continue to answer notes (probably concisely) for the time being, but I do expect to transfer ownership of this account to someone else in the near future. If I was discussing something with you on my personal account, and you would like to continue that discussion, please copy my last reply into a new message and PM me here. If you would like me to consider handing the reigns of C-F over to you, please send me a PM with the title "CF Candidate" and give me a brief overview of your theology, what you would hope to do with this account, and why you believe you would be a good witness to the folks here on FA.
Yours in Christ,
John Prester
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