Is This Quote Legit?

[bluesqueak <pipdowns@etchells0.demon.co.uk>]

No: HPFGUIDX 52896

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Eileen <lucky_kari at y...> wrote:
> While we're rumour-slaying, can anyone find a
> reference to  JKR saying that she doesn't want to get
> much into her Christian faith, because then people
> will know how the story ends? 

<Snip>> 
Eileen

There's lots of interview references where JKR talks about the books 
being very moral. The reference to Christian faith seems to have 
started with the following on-line article:
http://tmatt.gospelcom.net/column/2001/11/21/
which refers to a Canadian reporter whose interview was a year ago.

That would make it Canadian, probably October/November 2000, 
probably print since there seems to be no online copy.

If it exists at all, of course. 

The best evidence is probably the books themselves, which have many, 
many references to Christian symbolism, in a manner which is far 
more subtle than the rather blatant symbolism of C.S. Lewis.

A very nice example for Harry is his wand, which is made of holly 
wood. Harry's mother is called Lily. If you go to the Christmas 
Carol 'The Holly and the Ivy'  
(http://www.christmas-carols.net/carols/holly-ivy.html
if you don't know it)you'll find the following lines:

The holly bears a blossom, 
As white as lily flow'r, 

I doubt it's coincidence. I filked that carol in 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/48673
and found it extremely easy to adapt it to Harry Potter.


And then of course, there's Hedwig the owl, named after the patron 
saint of orphaned children, Godric Gryffindor who has some odd 
parallels to Saint Godric, and so on and so forth.

Pip