Paul's Passing Thoughts

By Paul Dohse, TANC Publishing 

    TANC Publishing is a research organization that focuses on religious issues. My wife, Susan, and I founded TANC in 2011. Recently, we crossed paths with a movement known as the “Furry Fandom.” What is this movement, and why should we care to know about it?

    Wikipedia is often criticized for not being a credible source for information along with the internet in general, but here, we have another example of something we wouldn’t know much about, if at all, without Wikipedia. In addition, we presently find ourselves in the Information Age which is a wonderful thing because information equals individual empowerment and freedom. Information is not the friend of those who oppose an open society. The idea of “experts,” and individuals considered to be an “authority” on any given subject has far less credence than it did in the past, and that’s a very good thing. In our day, expertism has been weighed in the balances and found wanting.

    Hence, TANC seeks to compile information about a subject in one place and learn more about the subject through collective contributions by other individuals. The individual has the final word on what they will believe or not believe. No one should believe anything just because someone said it is true.

According to Wikipedia,

The furry fandom is a subculture interested in anthropomorphic animal characters with human personalities and characteristics. Examples of anthropomorphic attributes include exhibiting human intelligence and facial expressions, speaking, walking on two legs, and wearing clothes. The term “furry fandom” is also used to refer to the community of people who gather on the internet and at furry conventions.

    Two things should be mentioned to start: this is no small fringe movement; activities and conventions are ample and thousands attend. Secondly, Furries aggressively and tirelessly defend their movement. This got my attention; if Furry Fandom is just a bunch of adults dressing up for fun every now and then like a yearly Halloween party, why all the fuss? Furry Fandom is much more than an excuse to throw a party; it is a culture complete with its own formal elements such as fursona, plushies, Yiff, etc.

    ALL Christians should be aware of what Furry Fandom is for the following reasons: it confirms what we believe about human behavior and wellbeing in general, and it is, in fact, an imminent danger while its “fursona” conveys images that are disarming and seem harmless. And, the ramifications for children are absolutely huge. If 2 plus 2 equals 4, and it does, this movement poses a huge danger for children. Secondly, Furry Fandom relies heavily on playing the “misunderstood” card. In our (Susan and I) recent brush with the Fandom, our attorney said the following: “People are all over the map in regard to this movement.” Exactly. It’s like indicting Jell-O by nailing it to the wall. And frankly, that’s by design. Fandom gets a pass through a disarming persona and confusion of information.

But, the best judge of anything is what it does. We are going to look at what Fandom is, and what it does. A bear doesn’t eat honey 100% of the time, and not all bears eat honey, but that doesn’t mean they are not guilty of being bears, and that you probably shouldn’t have one for a pet.

    Sure, there are Furries who look at their participation as a fun “hobby,” as Dr. Phil McGraw categorizes the Fandom, but that not only pertains to a very small segment of Fandom, but is an eggregiously misinformed perspective, if not outright ignorant. We will look at what the Fandom is basically, and how its ideology leads to other behaviors, and why we should be aware of those behaviors.

paul