The interesting thing about this review is that it sort of highlights the reviewer's preferences on what he would have censored for the sake of publication.
They critique that the book should have done more to highlight the minority that actually does engage in zoophilia (a harmful act to the animal in cases), but says it should have censored or berated those that have harmless spiritual beliefs using some strange outlier case as to why they should be shunned.
Also, I like how he sees America as a self-centered egotistical country (which to be fair it kind of is), but at the same time sees America as if it is somehow the bastion of the spirituality that the review author loathes. Ignoring that Catholicism is in Vatican City in Italy, and that America isn't the be all end all of "religious stupidity". There seems to be an implication that if the book been written anywhere other than America that it would have been more critical and questioning of those with religious beliefs.
My guess is that when I do get to the section, what I will find is that Joe Strike talks to several different furs of different beliefs in order to sort of get a variance of the different philosophies that furries actually hold. Instead of, you know, proselytizing to those furries that they're wrong and are going to the Charles Hitchen's version of hell, hollowed be his name.
If that is the case, I would ignore the critique of that section, Joe. It'd be the equivalent of a Christian furry ranting that you didn't hound that Muslim furry into accepting Jesus as their personal lord and savior. That is not the job of a non-fiction writer. It is to paint a picture of how things are, not of trying to manipulate them into how the author or reviewer wishes them to be.
My challenge, to the fandom at large, is that you shouldn't have to wait for an American Furry to cover you country's fandom history. It'd probably be better served if a furry from the country in question wrote about it. It'd be more genuine that way.
I believe Joe also said that his publisher had pushed him to Americanize it a bit to try and narrow the target audience.
The interesting thing about this review is that it sort of highlights the reviewer's preferences on what he would have censored for the sake of publication.
They critique that the book should have done more to highlight the minority that actually does engage in zoophilia (a harmful act to the animal in cases), but says it should have censored or berated those that have harmless spiritual beliefs using some strange outlier case as to why they should be shunned.
Also, I like how he sees America as a self-centered egotistical country (which to be fair it kind of is), but at the same time sees America as if it is somehow the bastion of the spirituality that the review author loathes. Ignoring that Catholicism is in Vatican City in Italy, and that America isn't the be all end all of "religious stupidity". There seems to be an implication that if the book been written anywhere other than America that it would have been more critical and questioning of those with religious beliefs.
My guess is that when I do get to the section, what I will find is that Joe Strike talks to several different furs of different beliefs in order to sort of get a variance of the different philosophies that furries actually hold. Instead of, you know, proselytizing to those furries that they're wrong and are going to the Charles Hitchen's version of hell, hollowed be his name.
If that is the case, I would ignore the critique of that section, Joe. It'd be the equivalent of a Christian furry ranting that you didn't hound that Muslim furry into accepting Jesus as their personal lord and savior. That is not the job of a non-fiction writer. It is to paint a picture of how things are, not of trying to manipulate them into how the author or reviewer wishes them to be.
My challenge, to the fandom at large, is that you shouldn't have to wait for an American Furry to cover you country's fandom history. It'd probably be better served if a furry from the country in question wrote about it. It'd be more genuine that way.
I believe Joe also said that his publisher had pushed him to Americanize it a bit to try and narrow the target audience.