Christian Symbols and Symbolism WAS Re: Religion in the Potterverse etc

[pamscotland]

No: HPFGUIDX 40627

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "bluesqueak" <pipdowns at e...> wrote:
> 
> Pam writes:
> > I was once a very committed Christian and I know how hard it is 
not 
> > to see Christian symbolism or anti-Christian symbolism 
in          
> > everything. 
> 
> Well, hey, y'know, it's just how we Christians are. Show us a 
> reference to godparents,  Friars, Saints names, the phrase 'BC',  
or 
> a place like a 'dark and overgrown graveyard; the black outline of 
a 
> small church was visible' (GoF p. 552 UK hardback) 

My point was really attempting to deal with the idea of sacrilege.  I 
do not deny that there are Christian symbols written all over my 
British culture and heritage - nor do I deny that there are many 
Christians in British society.  Christianity is the legally 
established religion in Britain and when I was born it would have 
been an usual family that did not bring up its children in a broadly 
Christian way.  The fact that Christianity is no longer as popular as 
say, 100 years ago means that there are a lot of very old Christian 
symbols around the place that now have only historical significance.

What I was trying to say is that a 'dark and overgrown graveyard; the 
black outline of a small church was visible.' does not *necessarily* 
represent consecrated ground and, therefore, the activities in it are 
not necessarily *sacriligeous*.  If they were, then there would be a 
few people who spend their Saturday nights at a local entertainment 
centre who must be well on the road to hell in terms of Christian 
theology.  (Well perhaps they would be anyway.)  There is a snooker 
club with bar, dance floor, shops,  all in a former church. The 
building and grounds are no longer consecrated but very clearly and 
very obviously a church.  What happens in the remains of its 
churchyard I really don't like to think about - it's almost certainly 
immoral, sometimes illegal and almost always showing no respect for 
the original purpose of the building and its grounds.   Is that 
sacrilegious?  Does the fish and chip shop named "The Friary Fryery" 
have a religious connotation apart from its being close to the ruins 
of an abbey?

I do not expect JKR to write 'the black outline of a small building, 
its shape showing that it was originally a church but the notices on 
the door and gates indicating that --District Council had granted 
planning consent for a change of use etc. etc. etc. '  Whether you 
like it or not, there are a lot of former church buildings around 
Britain that are no longer churches, some are private houses (giving 
the owners an interesting time digging the potato patch), some are 
entertainment centres, some are deconsecrated and left to rot and 
their grounds are, at best, wonderful wildlife refuges,  and at 
worst, playgrounds for activities of questionable legality and 
taste.  

A dark outline of a church and a graveyard is, as someone else said, 
very, very *spooky*.  It is not *necessarily* religious!

Cheers for now

Pam