[HPforGrownups] Religion in HP

[Leon Adato]

No: HPFGUIDX 40496

reincineier said:
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Something that has been bothering me for a while: what is everyone's
take on religion in the HP wizarding world?
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It seems pretty clear that JKR has steered clear of ALL religion - no
mention of J.C., Vishnu, Hashem, Allah or any other deific entity. Yes,
Christmas and Easter are mentioned as holidays (meaning "vacations" in US
terminology) but that could just be the less-PC way of saying "winter
holiday" and "spring break".

My understanding from friends who grew up in the UK is that this is very
common. Christmass is seen by many to be a non-religious holiday (strange as
it may sound).

Aside from those two vacation-events, there is no other mention of a
religious occurance - nothing Jewish, Hindu (despite having Indian
students), Muslim, Buddhist, or otherwise.

While this originally bothered me, someone pointed out that this would steal
focus from the *conflict*. It is harder to make a metaphorical comparison
when the real elements are also present. To say that another way, it's hard
to use the treatment of half-giants (and the half-giant hiding his status)
as an allegory of (for example) Jewish persecution if you clearly have
Jewish people (persecuted or not) in the story. People tend to miss the
point then.

So my assumption is that JKR is only showing "religion" if it is a social
event, not a truly theological one.

$.02 debit cheerfully recorded.

Leon Adato
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I have suffered from being misunderstood,
but I would have suffered a hell of a lot more if I had been understood.
         -Clarence Darrow, lawyer and author (1857-1938)