Religion in Harry Potter

[hunydou]

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No: HPFGUIDX C3756
From: hunydou
Subject: Religion in Harry Potter
Date: 7/10/00 5:16 pm  (ET)

I just wanted to point out something kind of weird that I noticed in
GOF. It's not really a spoiler, but just in case...

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This may sound kind of stupid, but I noticed in Chapter 22, talking
about the Christmas preparations at Hogwarts, one paragraph states:
"It was quite something to hear "O Come, All Ye Faithful" sung by an
empty helmet that only knew half the words." When I read that, the words
of the song raced through my mind and I was a little taken aback at the
thought that songs about Christ were being sung at Hogwarts.

I am not religious at all, so it certainly didn't bother me. But it
pulled me a little out of the story -- in my mind, I couldn't imagine
Hogwarts being a Christian school, so I've assumed that it's simply a
reference to Muggle worship through the ages by the armored ghost. But
it did make me think -- does religion play any part in the Harry Potter
series? Does it not exist or is it just taken for granted? And I wonder
what Jewish and Muslim kids think reading all the references to Christmas.

Of course, Christmas is mentioned in all the books, but is always
presented as a secular celebration with traditional English crackers,
gifts and Christmas trees that could easily be a pagan festival. The
Hogwarts Christmas Feast is more of a Dickensian Christmas than anything
else (after all, he was one of the first to link ghosts/magic with
Christmas).

The books are mum about this subject -- I suppose that the author assumes
that most British children reading it are members of the Church of
England and relate to Christmas songs in a secular way that has nothing
to do with religion. But it's still kind of weird.

Hunydou