Religion--couple more thoughts

[coriolan_cmc2001]

No: HPFGUIDX 40787

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "c_voth312" <divaclv at a...> wrote:

> ~The wizard attitude towards snakes and Parselmouths.  The notion 
of 
> serpents as evil is primarily a Judeo-Christian concept (think the 
> Garden of Eden); several Eastern and pre-Christian beliefs look on 
> the snake as a symbol of wisdom and rebirth.


I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd 
as snakes and as innocent as doves. 

  - Matthew 10:16


Genesis 49
Dan will provide justice for his people 
as one of the tribes of Israel. 
Dan will be a serpent by the roadside, 
a viper along the path, 
that bites the horse's heels 
so that its rider tumbles backward. 
I look for your deliverance, O Lord . 

    - Genesis 49:16-18

Though they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, 
there I will hunt them down and seize them. 
Though they hide from me at the bottom of the sea, 
there I will command the serpent to bite them. 

    - Amos 9:3

So the Judeo-Christian Bible recognizes the snake as having 
shrewdness, as an instrument of justice, and a vehicle of divine 
retribution, in addition to some of the scuzzier accusations it also 
conveys. 

The non Judeo-Christian Koran has this to say:

     37.63: Surely We have made it to be a trial to the unjust. 
     37.64: Surely it is a tree that-grows in the bottom of the hell; 
     37.65: Its produce is as it were the heads of the serpents. 
     37.66: Then most surely they shall eat of it and fill (their) 
bellies with it. 
     37.67: Then most surely they shall have after it to drink of a 
mixture prepared in boiling water. 
     37.68: Then most surely their return shall be to hell. 

I'll bet you'd be hard-pressed to find in even those worthy Eastern 
and pre-Christian cultures much in the way of folks getting cuddly 
with their reptiles, as we habitually do with our kitties and puppies 
(whatever level of respect serpents may have commanded iconically). 
And since this is the 4th, I might also make reference to that 
famous "Don't Tread on Me" early American flag, which hasn't lead to 
any greater degree of snake-popularity state-side. Interestingly, the 
Slytherins seem as grossed out by reptiles as the other three houses, 
despite their serpentine emblem.

  - CMC 

(who always kept a pet snake or frog or toad or two as a child - BTW, 
the toad always stayed put, the snakes were constantly escaping)