An article in the Religion News Service written earlier this month about a group of evangelical Christians within the larger furry subculture has picked up steam on Twitter, with a variety of posters struggling to read it from their preferred partisan or cultural angle.

I have questions. https://t.co/wl4ZozcXia

— Radley Balko (@radleybalko) August 22, 2022

The article, written by Riley Farrell, describes a group of furries that call themselves the "Christian Furry Fellowship" and quotes many Furscience researchers (that is, social scientists who study furry culture) on the subject of religion among furries. According to current scholarship, up to three-quarters of furries report not being religious. The furry community also is deeply associated with queer culture and the counterculture. This places evangelical Christian furries, some of whom say they are against homosexuality, at odds with the larger community.

As a result, a large number of posters online expressed surprise at the mere existence of evangelical Christian furries.

"Evangelical Christian furries" what even is this timeline? https://t.co/hBh4iy0lWj

— Locality Requisitioner (@Placeholder5_6) August 20, 2022

Farrell's article is a larger summary of the status of Christianity in furry communities, but the part which most commentators seized on was a part at the end, which explained that many of the furries interviewed for the story chose to remain anonymous, "fearing doxxing from within the largely secular furry community for their Christian identity and ostracization from their professional lives for their furry hobby."

On its website, the Christian Furry Fellowship describes itself as a "mission" to the furry community, intending to spread the gospel at furry conventions and in furry-oriented online spaces. The group's manifesto describes the emotional draw of the furry community (it is "home") and of Christianity (it represents a desire to "live with such love that it can’t be mistaken for anything else"). Many in the community spoke up in defense of it.

So the premise of this article is that
1. Nobody is trying to doxx Christian furries, because we are the kind tolerant guys, and
2. They totally deserve to be doxxed https://t.co/gBDy1bRSZJ

— CastorWheels (@castor_wheels) August 21, 2022

Influencers like the controversial political activist Jack Posobiec tried to capitalize on the moment through reaction posts on social media.

The Evangelical furries are worried about being doxxed by the mainline furries. Welcome to BIDENS AMERICA pic.twitter.com/LQHtycDbGk

— Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) August 22, 2022

Others simply marveled at the diversity and variety of human social practices and groups.

Living in a small town, it’s easy to forget how many people there are on this planet.

Then I’ll see a headline like this and be like, “hot damn ‘evangelical Christian furries’ is like a whole cohort… humanity is indeed vast.” https://t.co/BLc1j17Flt

— Travis.web1 (@coloradotravis) August 21, 2022

evangelical furries vs catholic furries who will win pic.twitter.com/Iilj8zSQJA

— cool lich (@cool_lich) August 21, 2022

Some also expressed a general hostility to the idea of evangelical furries.

“My furry friendships are a blessing…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.”

If you're anti-gay & want to impose your religion on others- you don't respect your "friends" https://t.co/GggoPKZtbo

— The Ace Couple (@The_Ace_Couple) August 21, 2022

"evangelical furry" may be the worst thing I've seen on Twitter in a while

— Yin dragon🇯🇴🇸🇦 (@YDragon2005) August 21, 2022

In a warped sense, I love evangelical furries.

They joined an explicitly gay fandom purely to whine about how every other furry hates them for their pro queer genocide stance…

…and to other fascists they're just a bunch of degenerates.

So the entire world despises them. https://t.co/PNHZ8SkD8Z

— NO GODS, NO MASTERS, BISEXUAL DISASTERS🏴🏳️‍🌈🔞 (@TravisTeatime) August 21, 2022

Others reflected on what the public response to the article indicated about the perception of evangelicals.

That thing where being a furry is now more respectable than being an evangelical Christian. pic.twitter.com/kJQlqqeyNj

— Reza Aslan (@rezaaslan) August 21, 2022