Religious Diversity in the wizarding world

[toomanyideas at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 23770

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "M. Barnett" <fyregirl at c...> wrote:
> Margaret Dean wrote:  "...Hogwarts celebrates Muggle holidays such 
as 
> Christmas and Halloween."  
> 
>
> Or it could be that I am associating 'muggle' with 'Christian'.
> 

I have often been bothered by the celebration of Christmas at 
Hogwarts.  Obviously, for those raised in Muggle and Christian 
households, this might be just a British cultural expectation.  There 
is certainly no mention of the birth of Jesus...or of anything 
remotely religious.  However, JKR has gone out of her way to show us 
that the students at Hogwarts come from a variety of backgrounds.  The 
Patil's may be of muggle Hindu descent and Cho Chang's family could be 
Buddist.  It would be nice to either see some cultural diversity--not 
just in names and visual descriptions but in personal practices--or to 
hear an explanation of the Hogwarts or wizarding world view of 
religion...  But of course that could ban the books couldn't it!