Do Furries Have Souls?

       Some people seem to have a difficulty distinguishing fantasy from reality. Furry is a genre, like scifi or fantasy, but some people take the genre too seriously. Furries don't exist. But, for some furfans(human beings who like furry), whether for real or joking/IC, they convey the message that it is to be taken seriously. There is a stubborn, persistant determination to deny the facts behind the matter. For this very reason, some people refuse to go to conventions or look at photographs of real life furfans. And worse, there are plenty of examples of flame wars, character defamations and the like arising from anything even remotely resembling a challenge toward the religous pluralism and/or the supposed "religious neutrality" of furrydom, e.g. secularism. For something that is supposed to be devoid of any moral stance, there seems to be a lot of bitter infighting and misunderstanding within the furry genre.

       If you ever find a real "furry" (walking talking animal) in real life, show me it and I'll change my position on the subject.

       Some people have a lot of difficulty understanding Christian furs. "How can you simultaneously be Christian and furry? Isn't that against your religion?" they say. Or they make assumptions, like, "Christians don't believe furries have souls. What good is that to me? I'm a furry!"
       These are loaded statements, based on the oversimplification of facts, biblical facts and the Christian viewpoint on reality and the furry genre. It's due time to clarify this overly complicated, and ridiculously silly issue.

What is a furry?

       It depends on what you call a furry. Typically, a furry is described as:

1. A walking, talking animal.
2. A human being who is a fan of anything containing walking, talking animals.

Non-Christian assumptions about furries

       Atheists and agnostics make many assumptions about what a furry is, based on their own subjective interpretation of reality. They are as follows:

• The characters we meet in furry mucks are real walking, talking animals. They only exist in the chat room. Nobody controls them. There are no human beings controlling them.
• Furfans don't exist.
• Furries can only be created with genetics.
• Furries will exist in the future.
• Humans are animals because we evolved from lower life forms.

• Manmade creations have no souls.
• Animals don't have souls.
• I'm human. I evolved from animals. I am an intelligent animal. That means I don't have a soul.
• I'm a furry. I evolved from animals. That means I don't have a soul.
• I'm a furry. I was made with genetics. That means I don't have a soul.
• There are no furry Christians because furries don't have souls.
• Therefore no Christians should be furry, and no furries should be Christian.

The Christian perspective

• Furry is not real, it is a genre, it is not meant to be taken seriously. It is not supposed to replace religion.
• God made human beings, with souls.
• There are human beings, furfans, in control of 99% of all MUCK characters. In MUCKs, we chat with human beings, not walking, talking animals.
• If a furfan is not in control of a MUCK character, it is a robot.
• Furfans have souls.
• Robots don't have souls.
• It's possible for God to create talking, walking animals.
• It's possible for God to give talking, walking animals souls.
• While it's perfectly fine for a fictional animal character to have a soul, the bible is silent about whether or not animals have souls. It doesn't say either way if they have any or not. It is not important for your salvation, so that is probably why that information is not in the bible.
• For centuries, animal sacrifice was practiced in Judaism. Offering animals like sheep and oxen and doves was done to honor God, according to God's commandments. While this doesn't tell us whether or not animals have souls, it's a big hint that they probably don't.
• God didn't create us to be talking, walking animals for a reason. Our bodies are special, beautiful things. God made us exactly how he wanted us to be. We need to appreciate our bodies instead of looking at them with disgust, wishing we could be something else.
• If nothing else, a furry character is a metaphor, an allegorical symbol, a figure of speech(i.e. "Crazy like a fox"), and so the issue of its immortal soul is irrelevant. Cf. The Chronicles of Narnia, where Aslan the lion allegorically represents Jesus.
• Guinea pigs think the paper in a bible is tasty. They don't read the bible, they eat it.
• The bible never tells us to make disciples out of guinea pigs and cows.
• If cats and dogs need Jesus, God will tell Fluffy to go share the good news with Fifi. It's not the job of human beings to do that.
• People in different religions have different definitions of words like, "objective," "fact," "truth," "fantasy," "solidity" and "reality." We believe creationism is a fact, a truth and a reality. Atheists and agnostics believe evolution is a fact, truth and reality.
• Nothing can be "proven" or "disproven," only supported or refuted.

"The Lion of Judah"

Jesus is called "the lion of Judah" in bible prophecy. However, anyone can tell you he is not literally a lion. Therefore, arguments that animals have souls because Jesus is called the "lion of Judah" make no sense.

"Christians don't make furry art."

       "Christians are still living in the dark ages. Christians don't make furry art. Christians believe that if artwork isn't rigid and Gothic looking, it's evil."
       This is also a gross exaggeration. Here are some examples of Christian furry artists who do not conform to the static gothic style:

• XianJaguar
• Elizabeth Dodril
• Son Of Earth
• Jeremy Potocki
• Mogwai_toejam