Religion in the Potterverse

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 40711

Religion and the Potterverse

Bluesqueak said:
>>A lot of people have pointed out that the UK is very secular and 
that JKR's use of Christmas and Easter holidays does not imply 
active Christian observance [both true]. <<

It's important to remember that the division between religious 
and secular is itself the product of a Christian culture. Since 
other traditions don't make the distinction between secular and 
non-secular observance, it can be hard for non-Christians to 
understand why a Christian would consider a Christmas feast a 
non-religious occasion. 

 People nowadays use "secular" to mean "devoid of religious 
associations" but this was not originally the case.  "Secular"  at 
the time when Hogwarts was founded  simply meant "not 
administered by the  clergy".  Towns, guilds, schools,  courts, 
etc. could receive their operating authority from  the King rather 
than from a bishop. This did not make them open or welcoming 
to  non-Christians. Their charters, though not given by a religious 
authority,  would  refer to Christian concepts such as the Virgin or 
the Trinity and participation would require the taking of a 
Christian oath. For example, the requirement to take a Christian 
oath in order to be seated in the British Parliament was not 
modified until 1858--that's within living memory for wizards. 

 If the wizards were so liberal in the year 1000 as to think 
religious affiliation a purely private matter, that alone would be 
radical enough to explain their persecution by the Muggles of the 
time. 

Leon:
>>Exodus 22:17 is the "witch" line in this case. It's also important 
to note that it falls in between two different bans on sexual 
behavior (22:16 being a punishment for lying with a virgin if you 
didn't marry her and 22:18 being
the aforementioned livestock issue.). This is important only 
because they
key foci seem to be divination (also appearing in this section) 
and sexual temptation. Not levitation, unlocking doors, etc.

While I am not, in any way, trying to invalidate the text of the Torah
(bible, old testiment, pentateuch, etc), even as it relates to HP; 
nor am Itrying to shoehorn a RL religious text into the context of 
the Potterverse:still I wanted to clarify that JKR has not to 
overstepped the boundaries of even that sacred ban. <<

The interpretation of the biblical prohibition against witchcraft 
has been fluid in Jewish practice, so it's difficult to say whether 
Rowling's witches and wizards would violate it or not.  The 
Talmud contains many charms and incantations which were 
later forbidden because the Rabbis decided the correct way of 
using them was no longer known. In the Potterverse, 
presumably, this knowledge has been preserved. 

 On the other hand, experimentation in order to discover the 
properties of natural substances was once forbidden as 
witchcraft but is now allowed. It's possible that the Jewish 
wizarding community has re-interpreted the law as well. The 
biblical prohibition might be presumed to apply only to dark 
magic using forbidden ingredients such as the blood of human 
beings, or to summoning ghosts, which Potterverse wizards 
never do. 


However, the fact that Quidditch games at Hogwarts are 
scheduled on Saturday and never on Sunday leads me to think 
that the religious observances that British wizards have fallen 
away from are Christian ones.

Pippin
information about Judaism and magic is from Trachtenburg's 
"Jewish Magic and Superstition"