Religion in the Potterverse

[c_voth312]

No: HPFGUIDX 40594

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "pamscotland" <Pam at b...> wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at y..., "bluesqueak" <pipdowns at e...> wrote:
> I think your average non-regular-church-going Brit would refer to 
> this as a Christening and mean a public naming  - not a Christian 
> baptism although the ritual is called Baptism of Infants (or some 
> such).  Many, many families take their children off to church to be 
> Christened (and therefore have to have godparents) with no more 
> thought of its being religious than they had when they got married 
in 
> church (makes for a prettier setting for the photos doesn't it?)  
> That being said, although many, many modern godparents give no 
> further to the vows they made on behalf of the child and, quite 
> possibly, due to marriage break-ups etc. no further thought to the 
> child, there are also godparents who are also absolutely delighted 
to 
> be a special person in a child's life without giving a thought to 
the 
> Christian aspect of their role.  In my limited experience these 
> godparents have generally been older people who have remained 
single 
> or do have no children of their own.  
> 
> Godparents can be great - they can be an extra source of income for 
> pocket money, and may even leave you something in their will!  (I 
> didn't have any godparents - I wasn't Christened.)

Also, I think in Sirius' case his role can be traced to a different 
archetype--that of the "fairy godmother" (okay, godfather in his 
case, but in the fairy tales it's usually a woman who gets the job), 
the one who advises and aids the hero, giving them direction.  Like 
Sleeping Beauty's godparents, Sirius can't remove the evil in Harry's 
life, but he can help out a little.

~Christi