Taking the fandom to a religius level ?

[Tesla Foxtrot]

I might be one crazed man, but how else will you give a message out to the people around you. I found out that Sweden takes applies for any religion of any sort. As long it meets some dots on a list its all good to go. To be fair, we got the road laid out because what I know we already meet them. [I might be one crazed man, but how else will you give a message out to the people around you The list from the official govermental site.
I know this will do more good than bad, just thinking on how many we are that supports the fandom and if we take it one step future, we might be able to stop the hate around us and actually deal with that its not all about the fur, its the thing inside us aswell. Sure, it might take some time but religius freedom is international. I know, I probably should not make a topic about it... but I tried a panel shuffle and broke in the process.

There is already a religion created from it: ''kopitism'' wich is a religion that bases Everything around copying. Languages, traditions and so on. So if they can! ( they only have around 400 members ) and we are around 10 milion people around the World. So why not, no more hate, no more shame, no more thought about ''is this really good''.

the answere: If it's a religion, only you can deside

I just want to know if its something to Think on. Or just keep it where things are.
And with religius acts, we can simply do what we already do

[Ketzal]

honestly....I don't know. I mean, when you get down to the bare bones of it, yes, it can be argued in such a way that the fandom can be considered a religion. You try to argue that it's not as legitimate as any other religion, and all you have to argue is that those religions believe in higher beings that we have no proof even exist (hence the reason it's a faith, of course ).

But I still don't really see it as a religion. That just seems too far to me personally.

[The Rookie]

[SirJahar]

Eh, why not. I already live in a way that I could consider the fandom my religion.

[asphere8]

If there were a middle ground option, I'd hit that. Do what you like. I won't judge. That may just be me being my usual self and trying to be as diplomatic as possible without alienating anyone, but I wouldn't mind either way. It may be a silly idea, but if you feel that making it a religion would help achieve your goal of making the fandom more socially acceptable, it's certainly not stupid.

[BallisticMaximus]

Quite simply, no. See, if furry becomes a religion, it would go up against other religions and receive more serious hatred from all sides. Though we already receive some hatred from society, and partly based on the fact that other religions look negatively on us; but if this becomes a religion, it would become a more serious problem with other religions as it would be seen as the furry fandom trying to threaten religion. Instead of the occasional religious person hating it in the sight of one furry alone, that would jump to a level of public condemnation by every religion that is made aware of this move from fandom to religion; not to mention the increase in hatred from society, since most of society don't really know about the existence of furries now, as compared to it being discussed negatively about in public which means, more people knowing about furries, more haters, and a possible increase in suicide rates, since there is an existing part of every fandom in depression due to the hate, no matter how small a part it is.

Then another look at the rivalry between religions, it is stated in almost every religion, whether by an official text or by wise proverbs, that going blindly into multiple religions is foolish, and would only cost you. That means people will be forced to make a decision about which religion to follow. Ultimately, the furry fandom will be broken by many with existing religions leaving the fandom, and leave atheists remaining behind, which would then become the focus of rivalry discussion with statements of furries being atheists. I'm pretty sure that would not have to be explained since atheists are always viewed under a bad light by every religion that serve a god. Compared to furries being a fandom where one could still serve their god or probably not even have a god, but still be free to take an interest in furries.

I think it's best left where it is, because the risk would be far greater than the benefit. People have the opportunity as it is now to keep furries a secret from those who they believe might hate them for it. As a religion, furries might become something other religions will search for, and if it become blasphemy, furries would be put in danger more for secrecy than the current passing event that no one gives a second thought to afterwards.

Though it could become a religion, that doesn't mean it should become a religion. Some advances in fandoms are best left be.

-EDIT-

Note: I was thinking of the question "Taking the fandom to a religious level?" when I cast my vote, not noticing that the question actually states "Is this stupid?" so I voted no. Disregard that vote, and take it as a yes. So...

Taking the fandom to a religious level? No.
Is this stupid? Yes.

[Neutral Smith]

People can do whatever they want in my opinion, as long as they don't and won't bother me with their beliefs.

You want to walk around naked? Go ahead, as long as you don't go and stand in attention in front of me (as a male), and not be offended when I stare at you (as a good looking female of the human kind)
You want to walk around in a fursuit or whatever the religion does? Also no problem, but no physical contact, I don't like to be hugged by strangers.

[Sithil]

I sincerely doubt that classifying the furry fandom as a religion(what would you even call it, Furrity? Furrism? The Orthodox Community of the Second Incarnation of Fur?), is going to generate even a slightly positive public opinion change. The religious devout will consider it the dumbest form of heresy they've seen yet, the athiest will think worse, and everyone else, if they stop to consider it even for a second, will only pose a rethoric, "Why?"

Besides this, the website you linked held four requirements for registration, and I'm going to quote them here and underline certain parts.

- Trossamfundets(The Religious Community's) purpose is to have a community for religious activities which includes organizing church service. With worship is also (meant) such as gatherings for prayer and meditation.
- Religious denomination shall have statutes which (through which) purpose is apparent. The Statute should also contain provisions on how decisions are made within the community.
- Religious denomination must have a Board of directors or equivalent body.

So. Suppose that you did want to form a religion out of the furry fandom. You'd need to create the following:
- Religious Seremony
- Rules and principles for all adherents
- A ruling body
- Administrative protocols

And I'd be very intrigued and impressed if you could craft a legitimate-seeming organistion measuring up to even these meager requirements, out of the furry fandom, even on a limited or local level.

[Moniker Pending]

Are there any rules regarding "thread necromancy?" This one hasn't gone that long without a new post, and what I'll say is relevant, but I'm still not sure about what is or isn't acceptable in that regard.

I'm not entirely sure how you could turn this fandom into a religion, most religions I know of and have studied in classes have some form of tenets that form the basis of their belief system. Even though it's possible for it to happen, there is a religion based on the Jedi order from Star Wars, what would be the basis of this religion you're trying to propose? What are we supposed to believe in or code that we must follow? From where I'm standing, I wouldn't even know where to begin to answer those questions, let alone get this fandom recognized as an official religion.

(many things mentioned)

This sounds like a terrible idea, imho.

I can more-or-less address both of these posts with the same message. I fully agree with SperoWolf's judgment on this matter, and my biggest reason for agreeing is the fact that I've seen some of Fawkes' concerns play out in the worst possible way. I mean, consider Atheism and related ideas, explored in the spoiler box below (since this is an example, demonstrating, but ultimately separate from, the main point):

Spoiler!

In and of itself, Atheism is pretty much the lack of belief in any gods, just a single stance of non-belief in the claims of someone else; different labels can exist for any variations which do not actually contradict this one defining aspect of Atheism. On its own, this one defining aspect of Atheism is actually more accurately called "Agnostic Atheism," which is more commonly known as "Weak Atheism," or simply "Agnosticism" in layman's terms (for the record, I'm basically an Agnostic Atheist). For clarification, by adding the active assertion that no gods exist, the "Strong Atheism" variant is made, defined as the actual disbelief in any deities, proposed or otherwise.

(I tried looking up a more comprehensive list of variants on Wikipedia, but I think the whole site's been hacked or something)

This doesn't give much potential for dogma, does it? Atheism is, at its core, just a single stance, and so many need outside reasons for their adoption of this stance. While those reasons may vary, science is often used as such a reason, and while actual science is entirely non-dogmatic, there are plenty of discoveries made via the scientific method that can serve as a basis for dogma. Doing this is a complete betrayal of science, but it's still possible to do, and in fact, it's happened already.

Folks, I'm about to tell you something that may be shocking, and will definitely be hard to believe, but there is an entire forum out there, supposedly dedicated to "science" (I'm not going specifically name it here, but it shouldn't be hard to find if you go looking for it), where these secular ideas, including Atheism, have been made into a religion. The people on this forum I'm referring to have established a religious dogma from a narrow purview of established scientific discoveries, and they believe that anything other than this dogma, and especially things that contradict the dogma (even for the purpose of scientific advancement) is dismissible by default, which is why their primary form of argument against disagreeing ideas is the "ad lapidem" fallacy. I'm not the only one who thinks this, either; those who aren't part of that community, and who know about that site, consider the whole place to be an object of contempt (even if they have an account; by "community," I'm going by shared identity and ideals, not membership, even though almost all of those who share the community's identity/ideals can only find refuge in that forum).

As a secular Agnostic Atheist myself, I say that these people are the worst enemy that secular ideas have ever had.

How does this relate to a "furry religion?" The thing is, one of the best parts about the furry subculture is the fact that there is no dogma, or even stigma, to stifle us. We can freely express ourselves, and the very worst judgment of character that many of us can reasonably expect to get from another furry is "meh, it's not my thing," and even on "adult" furry sites, anything notably worse is still pretty rare.

If a "furry religion" is established, not only will it increase hostility to us from those outside the furry fandom (as BallisticMaximus pointed out), but it will actually destroy the furry fandom from the inside.

[Him]

Are there any rules regarding "thread necromancy?" This one hasn't gone that long without a new post, and what I'll say is relevant, but I'm still not sure about what is or isn't acceptable in that regard.

Certain threads can bypass dying but only if they can bring new and relevant content. A thread can be a month or two old if it brings in fresh information on the subject. All of this only applies to threads that can generate actual discussion though. If I were to be honest, I would say this thread doesn't really meet the criteria. As you can tell, most people who posted in here didn't take the topic too seriously. Many who saw the title already knew their answer before even clicking. The possibility of this thread generating new content is unlikely.

[primalcaller ergos]

Well actually I think the famdom already has various religious aspects to it already.

A friend of mine is a furry fan because he is an aboriginal with his own shamanistic spirit totem animal.
He is technically otherkin, but his basis for is that making animal totems for people to represent them is part of his heritage.
Come to think of it I dont know if he knows about twokinds but I should ask him about it sometime because he also just so happens
to be a female to male transgender so I figure he might really like Natani. (Of course I also call him a "he" for same reason I do Natani)

Anyways I think if anything as far as religion goes humans have been comparing themselves with animals as a form of spirituality for millienia.
Tons of people also use animal spirits as their religions too.

However when it comes to making the government of your nation state recognize furry fandom as a mortar and bricks official religion,
it certainly falls flat almost immediately because we don't have some kind of central authority or organized place of worship.
We don't even a specifc deity or pantheon of dieties to worship, as the fandom itself is composed mostly of independents and little cliques.
There are also so many different types of furries (even people who like what we do but do not identify as a furry) that it's hard to define who is and who is not part of our fandom.

If anything I think part of the appeal of the fandom is how accepting we are of so many different people and how much we allow leeway in people
using the fandom to match themselves personally. There are some parts of the fandom we like, some we don't, some we even hate.
It's just so different for everyone, but allowing for that difference is what makes our fandom work as well as it does.
The reasons why people are part of our fandom is as varied as the very people who compose it.

So if we were to make strict rules about traditions and ceremonies (which we would need to do to make it a religion) then
we would actually be directly going against the very things that make us what we are and what allow us to function as a community.

If anything I would say no we should not make it a religion even if there are parts of the whole fandom that are quasi-religious or spiritual.

[MeaCulpa, S.C.M.]

So why not, no more hate, no more shame, no more thought about ''is this really good''.

What?!? Please show me a religion that gets no hate, no shame, and where adherents just don't wonder about whether or not they're on the right side, ever. If that is your goal this is literally the exact opposite way to go about it. Like, Christianity is the world's largest religion and probably among the most protected legally, but tell that to Assyrian Christians in Iraq or Syria, or Christians living in the DPRK, or Saudi Arabia. And we're, like, 75% of the population of the most militarily and economically powerful country in the world.