I'm not entirely sure how to address such a post without seeming condescending or hurtful, mostly because to get into any real helpful advice will probably involve various criticisms of your religious beliefs themselves (or at the very least a passing jab at them). So before I get into that, I'd just like to say that anything I say is neither intended to be hurtful to you as a person, nor is it meant to attack your choice to follow any religion you wish.
Now, to see what I mean, I will start by saying that, yes, in it's "purest" form, following your religion will likely deny you the right to practice (for lack of a better word) many aspects of the furry fandom. As you said, considering animals to have souls is to contradict the teachings of the Bible which establishes the soul as a tool to differentiate humans from "lesser" creatures. In addition, things like anthropomorphism of animals could very easily be taken as a form of idol worship, which again would be to go against some of the core beliefs of Christianity as a whole (not just Catholicism).
The dilemma enters here: which beliefs are more important to you? The belief that animals have a soul, and that you have every right to respect animals as more than the meager role that the Bible burdens them with? Or your beliefs that the Bible is the word of God, written for the sake of your "salvation"? To choose one is to deny the other in it's entirety, and as a religious individual I have to imagine you're inclined to stick to your holy text's teachings at all costs. However, you've come here looking for a loophole to try to find a way to keep both anyway. This says to me that you don't necessarily want to believe everything you've been taught to believe. That you potentially see a problem with it. Which, in my opinion, is a good thing. You're one of those who's actually prone to think, rather than just plug your ears and go, "Nope. Bible's right, guess I can't be a furry anymore." and just walk away from your non-religious beliefs in absolute favor of the religious ones.
Now's where what I say may come off as a bit of an anti-religious rant, which may make you uncomfortable, so I apologize in advance for that. [If you're really not sure you want to read it, just skip this paragraph to the "tl;dr", which is a little less harsh.] I've heard a couple people say already that there is no reason to think that religion (namely a sect of religion as stringent as Catholicism tends to be) and various aspects of the furdom need not contradict, but to say so is just plain dishonest, if you ask me. It supports this thought process that many religions have been retreating further and further into over the years. And that is: when real life morality and new precedents are set in our ever-evolving society, that religion can just "evolve" with it by coming up with excuses to disregard the undoubtedly bronze-age core of a religion, while keeping just enough to keep the religion from falling apart into nothingness. It's underhanded, it's dishonest, and it's just plain wrong. Deity-based religions, by the very merits they stand on, cannot evolve as a society does. They are based in absolutes set down by the particular religion's version of "god", so whatever was righteous and good back in the "bible days" should still be good now. So when religious folks try to remove pieces that they call "outdated", it's only right that you abolish all the other outdated bits as well.
tl;dr - It's all or nothing. It's one or the other. If you try to pick and choose to suit your lifestyle, you're only fooling yourself. If your god exists as he describes himself in the Bible, he's not going to be too keen that you've been cherry-picking through his holy book to justify living life by your standards, rather than his.
I apologize again if any of this made you uncomfortable, or if I came across as too harsh on any of the points I made. I'm just being as honest as I can be, and if it means giving an ultimatum that pits your religion against your other beliefs, so be it.
Topic: Christianity? (Read 1085 times)