Religion News recently published a, uhhh, interesting article about Evangelical Christians within the Furry movement, such as those who belong to the Christian Furry Fellowship. Furrydom is a notoriously accepting and tolerant community … but given the associations between white American Evangelical Christians and homophobia, some of these Christian Furries are reportedly concerned that even their fur community has its limits:
Christians in the furry community are cautious about who knows about both their furry and faithful selves. Christian furries interviewed for this story, including leaders of the group that calls itself the Christian Furry Fellowship, asked to be anonymous, fearing "doxxing" from within the largely secular furry community for their Christian identity and ostracization from their professional lives for their furry hobby.
"My furry friendships are a blessing," said one CFF organizer with a red fox fursona who asked to be called "F." "And for that reason, I am sad to see so much grief within the fandom that could be helped by the knowledge of the Lord."
Founded in the late 1990s on internet chat forums, CFF is a ministry that views furry fandom as a mission field.
[…]
CFF, for its part, does not enforce any worldview related to sex for its casual members. Like many conservative Christians, its members believe that engaging in same-sex sexual relationships is wrong; having homosexual feelings alone is not. Furries who disagree with this stance can still join, S said, as long as they abide by the group's rules.
To be fair, the article ends with a focus on a non-binary Furry who was raised in — and later rejected — Christian purity culture, as well as a quote from Hund the Hound, saying:
Hund said Christian furries need to understand why the LGBT furry community doesn't like Christianity. "It's been centuries of hate and hurt," Hund said.
Christian furries, he said, have a chance to present a different face of their faith to their fellow furries.
"I have my relationship with God, but that's between me and God," said Hund. "When others think of a relationship with God, they think of persecution from that church. That's not God. That's God's people doing a bad job."
When mixing faith with furries, things can get hairy: A Christian movement has established itself inside the mostly religion resistant world of furry fandom. [Riley Farrel / Religion News]
Thumbnail Image: Torsten Maue / Flickr (CC-BY-SA 2.0)
