Five-year-old Olivia, dressed in stylish capris and a frilly maiden blouse, roars at her classmate as he runs past. Olivia makes an impressive dragon when she plays in the Kindergarten yard. One can almost see the leathery wings on her back. Yet, when she returns to the classroom, she can tuck those wings away and speak her first language (English) to her teacher.

Liam is a White Tiger. His fingers are curled, talons out when he approaches me. His face is scrunched, forehead wrinkled, nostrils flared, and he, too, communicates with a terrifying roar. He bounds through the jungle on four legs, claiming the territory as his own. When I call for him to line up at the end of our playtime, he adjusts quickly to his upright two-legged walking position and follows the line inside. Human speech is restored, and the tiger persona is left in the sandbox.

During indoor playtime, dog and cat play is a common theme. These characters appear every year with each new group of Kindergarten students. We have no reason to discourage their imaginative play, except when they create a leash around Puppy’s neck with our plastic chains—safe play is a priority. Again, when Clean-Up Time begins, the children transform back into humans and help tidy the room.

As teachers, we encourage imaginative play. We help them tape their paper tails to their backsides or their wings to their shoulder blades. The ability to put themselves in the body of an animal, a fairy, or a superhero demonstrates healthy brain development. Being able to return to their human bodies when playtime is over is assumed natural behavior. Imagine the challenge of meeting the needs of the dragon, tiger, cat, dog, fairy, mermaid, unicorn, and Spiderman as I try to teach them more human skills. Each would have unique challenges holding a pencil to draw or write or learning a new language!

Let’s go there for a magic minute. If Noah comes to school believing he is a dog, I might have to give him doggy treats for good behavior and provide a fire hydrant for his washroom needs (hoping he will do number TWO at home). For Maya, the cat, I may have to install a scratching post in the corner and add a box of kitty litter in the washroom (again, really hoping the bowel movements are done outside of school hours). Ryan, the fish, will need his desk to sit in a swimming pool. I will have to keep the cat out of the fish’s space and keep an eye on the dog when he’s near the cat. And I may have to research what dragons require… If this were to happen, I would self-identify as a river boulder and sit at the back of the room all day, watching my little creatures do their thing!

As farfetched as this may sound, this may not be so distant from our school’s doorstep. A teacher from one of our Canadian provinces recently introduced me to the newest self-identification category: FURRIES.

A child wakes up one day and decides she does not feel human. She believes she exhibits many behaviors that are more feline in nature. Therefore, she must be a cat! She begins crawling around the house on all fours, even though she has walked upright for years. She responds to her family with meows and purrs, leaving her ability to communicate in the side of her brain she’s now refusing to use. While potty-trained at two, she now begins to pee and poop on the floor. She licks her arms and claws at the furniture. Attempts to discipline her result in long scratches on her parents’ arms.

What can they do but agree that she must be a cat? They introduce a litter box to their home and suggest that her school do the same. And, in the vein of meeting everyone’s needs, the school purchases a litter box for the nongender washroom. Her teachers provide time for catnaps and try their best to interpret her meows.

If you’ve not heard of this before, your mouth is likely hanging open and your eyes, widening. This is happening in our world. Children are self-identifying as animals, and, as we scramble to accommodate them, we have labeled them “Furries.” I am not commenting on gender self-identification and the accompanying pronouns which our society works to normalize, but, you have to agree, Furries should not be a thing. My word processor underlines the word in red because it is not found in the software’s dictionary.

Let’s go back to the beginning. The first chapter of Genesis recounts that God created the heavens and the earth. There wasn’t much around before that: merely darkness and deep waters (verse 2). Skipping ahead to the fifth day of creation, God made sea creatures and birds (20-22), followed by the sixth day when He created every kind of animal (24-25). But after the animals, He created humans “in His own image” (27). God then gave these humans the authority to reign over His other creations: the fish, the birds, and all the animals (28). God did NOT create Furries.

So, why do we have litter boxes in some of our modern, “progressive” schools? How far do we go to avoid being accused of discrimination?

As adults, we should be able to explain to a young child that unless one or both of her parents were animals, she cannot possibly be an animal. Case closed. You can pretend to be a cat all day on the weekend at home, but when you go out in public, the expectation is that you behave like a human. Because you are human.

Our society needs prayer.

Jeremiah 17:9 says:

The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?

Yet, it’s not the child’s heart that I pray for. When young, immature children make life-changing decisions such as identifying as an animal, the responsibility for discouraging or enabling this train of thought lies with the adults in their lives.

Let’s pray for parents. Let’s pray for leaders in our churches and in our governments. Let’s pray for our children.

Let’s pray.

What would you do if your child told you he was self-identifying as an animal? How would you respond if a friend shared that their son or daughter has become a furry?

Are there other things going on around us that make you shake your head in wonder? As you think about them, pray for the people involved. Every individual on our planet is a soul loved by God.

Our society needs your prayers.

Father, sometimes the state of people’s hearts and their resulting behavior must remind You of the individuals in the days of Noah or those from the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah before You destroyed them. I pray for our leaders that they might wake up and see how far our society has drifted from God. Draw them into Your loving embrace, and show them Your mercy. Give the adults who hold earthy power WISDOM that they might make decisions based on Your Word.
I pray that the men and women in my country will recognize that the answer to their worries and pain cannot be found outside of You. Bring them into Your embrace. You are a God of miracles. Turn our society around, one heart at a time.
Thank You for Your love and grace.
Amen.

If you haven’t joined my mailing list, I encourage you to sign up below. I will send my TUESDAY TICKLE and FRIDAY FUNNY posts from Instagram directly to your inbox, as well as keep you up to date with my writing initiatives.

I also have a FREE gift for you when you sign up! Your welcome email will include links to my e-book, Tickle Me with a Crowbar! It’s a 30-day joke book and devotional just for you.