The Furry Fandom Part 15: Furry Hurt?
Unlike church, which is the marriage of authority and faith, and before America the marriage of faith and force, the Furry fandom does not seem to mix authority with its ideology. There is a Furry hive that is discussed from time to time, and there seems to be a community shunning from time to time, but the jury is still out regarding my conclusions on the authority issue. This is the difference between a sect and a cult as explained in a previous post in this series. Apparently, in a community where anything goes and the only sin is criticism of one’s fetishes, there are some standards as one Furry was shunned for raping his dog and posting the event on YouTube.
Yet, all of the verbal defenses for this “community” are exactly the same ones used by cults. Regardless of the temperature determining the damnation of any given information, if the source is not a descendant of Mother Teresa, and later adopted by Albert Einstein, the information should be rejected out of hand. Like the narrative spun by all stripes of control-lust, online sources are dismissed as coming from a Cracker Jack box. Whether a cult, bad sect, or some sort of fascism, information is the primary enemy because information empowers the individual. Hence, the source of the information must be attacked. By invalidating the information or the ability to obtain information the individual is stripped of empowerment. This is where Expertism seeks to control: the only valid source of information is its approved certification process which guarantees that you will agree with the traditional narrative. This is why doctors don’t like to be questioned. They are perhaps the best example. However, regardless of the fact that many firsthand experiences and testimonies clearly illustrate that doctors can be wrong, the information should be rejected because the victim of malpractice doesn’t have a medical degree. And so it goes.
Likewise, Furry proponents try to invalidate any information that doesn’t come from their peer-approved sources. No, they don’t have seminaries; so, what is their source for valid information about the Fandom? Answer: experience as a Furry, and knowledge of “online communities.” Yet, they are fond of mocking Wikipedia as an information source when Wiki is based on a collective effort of those who have firsthand experience regarding any given subject. It reminds me of a well known Calvinist who wouldn’t debate me because I am not educated in Greek and Hebrew. But, neither was Calvin himself. And again, so it goes. Furthermore, the primary information for how to become a Furry is, well, online. And it is also an, “online community.” Yet, God forbid that you would get any information about Furryism online.
This brings me to a very popular religious argument for dissuading people from taking part in the present-day mass exodus from church: “Church hurt.” Yes indeed, the only reason this person is bringing attention to child rape in the church is because said person had a bad experience at some church. Therefore, the fact that children get raped in church is totally irrelevant because the whistleblower has experienced “church hurt” and wants to “destroy all the good that comes out of church over a bad experience.” And as we know, there is a bad apple in every bunch, right? Here is a whiner that fell victim to a rare occurrence at church, and now wants to paint the whole church with a “broad brush” blah, blah, blah.
Thank God for the internet. Yes, a whiner got on the internet and started exposing what happened to them at church, and this resulted in other people acknowledging that they had the same experience. This alone finally exposed life-destroying trends in the church. The internet also reveals worldwide trends as well. Let’s be clear: the concern isn’t a few bad apples; the concern is an ideology that leads to a trend within a cult or a sect. Take golf for example. That is truly a sport and a hobby. In that regard, there will be a few bad apples that partake in behavior unconnected with an ideology that drives golf—golf doesn’t have an ideology. This is what separates a hobby from politics, religion, movements, sects, cults, and statecraft: the ideology drives action. People know this, and people are leaving church because they have figured out that church is driven by a particular ideology that is unhealthy, not because of a few bad apples. Golf has a few bad apples, the aforementioned are trees that are known by there fruit. When Christ said a tree is known by its fruit he wasn’t talking about hobbies.
The arguments are all the same, and lo, I get an email insisting that I am only writing this series for purposes of publishing a book because I am a former Furry who was hurt by the movement. Presently, in regard to our longtime readers who know me, I hear the collective laughter. If LOL is “laugh out loud” and ROFL is “rolling on the floor laughing,” this is ROFLOL.
So there you have it, “Furry hurt.”
paul
Julie Roys is the Classic Example of a Confused Churchian
Julie Roys, like many others, is out to save the church from the evils of TGC and T4G etc. However, TGC and T4G are the church. A recent article by Roys reflects the overall confusion and cognitive dissonance of those trying to save the church. They should try to save American Christianity instead.
Roys is the classic example of a confused Churchian. Church orthodoxy shares the exact same presuppositions about mankind as Socialism. Both are predicated on the total inability of man and man’s need to be ruled over by those with superior knowledge. Roys will write an article like this, and then go to church this Sunday and listen to a sermon about her total depravity. Of course, the verbiage will probably be tempered with words like “sinner” etc. Orthodoxy makes the issue about the great unwashed and their lack of knowledge concerning the spiritual while socialists make the issue about the material; so what? In both cases, it’s about the total inability of the individual. Roys represents the hybrid between Americanism and orthodoxy that took place after the American Revolution but is presently on life support. All of the outcry about TGC, T4G, etc. flows from a lack of understanding that the church is returning to its original authentic orthodoxy at breakneck speed.
Something great could emerge from the ashes if Churchians would simply admit that they bought into the traditions of men rather than a grammatical understanding of the Bible. Clearly, the Churchian understanding of the Bible comes from what parishioners are told at church, not what they have read and understood for themselves. Obviously, few want to humble themselves and admit they bought into what they were told all of their lives. For me, it wasn’t hard because 6 months after becoming a Christian and joining a church I knew something was fundamentally wrong with church but I could never figure it out. I stayed committed to church, even as a pastor, because it was the only Christian venue that seemed viable, but I always prayed that God would show me the truth someday, and that prayer was answered.
Per the usual on church stuff, the answer is too simple to grasp and is hiding in plain sight. Church is a lie and a false gospel. The ekklesia was never an institution and was never meant to be an institution. Where Christians should go from here is fairly simple: it’s the difference between family and institution. While Roys points out the laziness, hypocrisy, theft, and overall decadence of socialist leaders, her blindness to the same mentality among America’s spiritual leaders is stunning. In her mind, like many others, this mentality among church leaders is all about a few bad apples. Really? I was a pastor once in the institutional church and I will tell you that pastors are among the laziest people I have ever met in my life. Leaders of the TGC and T4G live lives of splendor and their reported incomes should give people pause in regard to commonsense. While the laity, and nothing but the laity makes everything they do possible, parishioners are given little or no say about anything and are brought up on church discipline if they dare question the “authority” of church leaders.
Furthermore, leaders demand a higher and higher temple tax (“tithes and offerings” wink, wink) and berate parishioners if they don’t pony up. Ironically, failure to cough up what the church leaders say they need is blamed on “materialism” and “worshipping the American dream rather than Christ.” Like so many Churchians, Roys is confused; church is not Christianity. Because of the tradition that Churchians have been indoctrinated with, they actually find such a statement shocking and absurd. That’s why the church will eventually look like the description we see in the book of Revelation: Socialism and tyranny on steroids.
paul
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