What Are 'Furries' and Why Do Parents Need to Be Aware of Them?
Parenting
Audio By Carbonatix
6:45 PM on Wednesday, October 1
By Amanda Idleman, Parenting
A furry is a community of fans, artists, gamers, and role-players. Most in the community create an anthropomorphized animal character for themselves. This character acts as their avatar within the community. Some individuals wear costumes, fursuits, or animal accessories, such as ears or tails, to represent themselves as their avatars.
Furry fandom describes those furries who are online, in your local community, and across the globe. There are furry groups worldwide; many conventions are held throughout the year, allowing community members to meet. Additionally, there is a smaller group of furries referred to as “therians,” who believe they are spiritually connected to animals and are not entirely human, but rather an animal trapped in a human body or an animal in a former life. Otherkin, similar to the therians, believe they are spiritually connected to non-human species, which often extends to mythical creatures such as dragons, griffons, and more.
Interestingly, this community is primarily composed of people under the age of 25. About 84% of those in the community identify as male, 13% female, and 2.5% are transgender. Those in the group are mostly white and about ⅓ identify as heterosexual, while most of the group would identify as homosexual. About 60% of this group is enrolled in some kind of post-secondary education. Approximately 2 million people belong to this niche group, but it is growing and becoming increasingly popular online.
Why Parents Should Be Aware of the Furry Community
This community is primarily comprised of teens and young adults, which means your children are more likely to come into contact with this community than you are. My kids are homeschooled and young, and somehow, through conversations with friends, they have become aware of the furry fandom. If our kids are being exposed to this group of people and subculture, then we, as parents, should also be informed and aware of how this subset is influencing culture for young people.
Furry culture is increasingly visible in middle and high school communities. In our local area, one student who wore a collar to school and identified as a cat became a topic of widespread discussion on local Facebook parent groups, quickly gaining recognition among peers for their unconventional behavior. This reflects a broader trend: students who identify with or participate in furry culture are becoming more present in school environments.
Reports of children barking, galloping, neighing, and more in school as they claim to identify as different animal varieties are not uncommon. While these kids may not all understand the broader furry community or connect with others online, they have been influenced by this trend and are bringing aspects of it into the classroom and beyond.
The Furry Lifestyle Goes Against Christian Values
While barking in class may seem like a minor distraction, we should be aware of the elements within this community that celebrate a sense of identity that contradicts biblical truth. We must engage our kids so that they understand that, while some of this may appear silly at face value, the core messaging of this community is incompatible with Christian values.
God Made Our Kids on Purpose with Purpose
The idea that has influenced the minds of the current group of students is that you can be whatever you say you want to be! This does not stop at sexual preference, career choices, or gender; now it extends to species. If you feel your soul is connected to that of a dog, wolf, dragon, cat, or more, you must actually be that thing. If nothing else, you definitely should not shy away from acting as that thing in the real or online world.
This message undermines the fact that our kids are holy creatures made in the image of God. Psalm 139:14 states, “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.” God created each person on purpose with a purpose. We do not have to become something other than what we were created to be to find our truest selves. We have to embrace, love, and accept who God made us to be to gain true peace. Any trend that pulls people away from the gender or species they have been assigned by God is undermining the sanctity of his creation. God did not make a mistake when he made your child a human boy or girl.
Christian Living Is Rooted in Engaging with the Real World
The furry community is primarily online, where participants become immersed in an alternative reality. Their avatar becomes a part of their real-world identity. As believers, we are called to remain engaged with God’s tangible creation. Jesus commands us in the Great Commission to go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19–20). We are instructed to be the salt and light in this dark world (Matthew 5:13–16). To love our neighbor (Mark 12:31). We are called to pursue justice and the welfare of our communities and world (Jeremiah 29:7). Christian living is us living out the tenets of the gospel in God’s Earth. Schemes that pull us away or distract us from God’s tangible reality and the spiritual implications of our actions are not compatible with christian living.
Online Communities Can Be Dangerous for Our Children
As this community is primarily engaged online, we need to be vigilant in ensuring our kids are practicing internet safety. There are risks associated with interacting with strangers online. Our kids need to be aware of how to recognize and appropriately respond to unsafe scenarios on the internet. Those who are openly engaging with the furry fandom may experience bullying online or in person, which can be damaging to your child’s mental health. Additionally, your child can feel confused between their online identity and real-world identity, creating mental distress.
Acts 20:28 instructs, “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.”
As parents, we have to pay careful attention to the trends that are influencing the culture our kids are interacting with. Their world is definitely different than the one that we grew up in. The internet is a constant stream of trends and traps. Many things appear harmless but can quickly lead our kids away from the truth and distract them from God’s calling and purpose for their lives.
We must arm our kids with the truth of the Word so they remain grounded in an ever-shifting world. John 16:13 says, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.”
Let’s pray that our children will know God’s Spirit that guides them in truth. We must rely on the authority of God’s Word as we set boundaries for our homes that keep us safe and focused on God’s way.
Photo credit: ©GettyImages/AGNES BUN / Contributor
Amanda Idleman is a writer whose passion is encouraging others to live joyfully. She writes devotions for Your Nightly Prayer, Crosswalk Couples Devotional, Your Daily Prayer, and more. She has work published with Her View from Home, on the MOPS Blog, and is a regular contributor for Crosswalk.com, Biblestudytools.com, and Christianity.com. She has most recently published a devotional, Comfort: A 30 Day Devotional Exploring God's Heart of Love for Mommas, alongside her husband’s companion devotional, Shepherd. You can find out more about Amanda on her Facebook Page or follow her on Instagram.
