Bang! You're Dead. (was:Voldemorts animus...)

[mightymaus75]

No: HPFGUIDX 85975

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "arrowsmithbt" 
<arrowsmithbt at b...> wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "mightymaus75" 
<mpjdekker at h...
> > 
> > I do however wonder about the morality of Kneasy's statement that 
> > it's okay to use the unforgivable curses on Voldemort just as
> > long as he is no longer human. It's precisely this sort of
> > attitude that results in resentment among the non-humans.
> > 
>  
> It's not a question of morality, it's a matter of canon.
> And the canon is fictional fantasy, not a civics textbook.
> Whether you agree with it or not, it is the standard to be adhered
> to in the WW and defined as such by  the  author.
> 
> A bit of a rant here; it's  been brewing for some time and if I
> delay much longer the safety valve may blow. It's not aimed at any
> named posters, but reflects thoughts on a trend that seems to
> becoming more prevalent.
>  
> I  don't know about you, but in the stygian gloom of the midnight
> hour I sometimes worry about the writers of some previous posts who
> seem to have difficulty distinguishing between the two and
> extrapolate fictional constructs into the real world. That small
> hard core that seem to consider themselves to be the uncontested
> and unimpeachable moral arbiters of everything and everybody,
> including the author.
> 
> "This is not  right," they declaim, drawing their rectitude around
> them. I, on the other  hand, take a different view. "Where is JK
> going with this?" I  ask myself. "What is she up to? Can I second
> guess her? Why  is this like that?" I consider, I hope, that this
> is what HPfGU is all about. I really don't  see it as a notice
> board where posters vie with each other to proclaim their personal
> moral absolutes, which are probably not applicable anyway.
> 
> I shook the dust of the lecture room from my feet almost forty
> years ago and have no wish to be on the receiving end of a fresh
> onslaught of words telling me what to think and why I mustn't say
> this or that. I hope that you have noticed that though I often
> disagree with theories on the site, I still  treat  them for what
> they are - theories. They may be right, they may not. What is  very
> different is a post that tells me I am morally wrong when I take a
> particular line with a plot development because it does not conform
> to the tenets of some real world philosophy. I consider that to be
> a personal assault on my ethical integrity. 
> 
> Of course, we can all draw parallels between the behaviour  of
> imaginary characters, situations, etc. and our world, that, after
> all, is one of the functions of fiction. But many of the parallels
> are of our own choosing, mostly the result of our individual social
> conditioning. It is not reasonable to demand that a make-believe
> world *must*  reflect any individual's personal view. I for one do
> not confuse the Potterverse with a political tract seeking to
> impose alien standards on my personal ethics.
>  
> IMO Voldy  has been deliberately set up  as a non-human entity, as
> the essence of evil, to enable him to be destroyed without qualms.
> That is a morality  nearly everyone can approve of. Similarly, I
> like to think that there must be a loophole in the  laws governing
> the use of unforgivable curses to allow the good side to meet the
> chief baddy and his band on something like  equal terms.
> 
> Personally, I have no problem with it; after all, I'm unlikely to
> have to defend my opinions by being confronted with an irate Goblin
> at my Bank .
> 
> Others, it seems, see themselves as pure-hearted moral guardians 
> of the unreal, proponents of real world rights for the imaginary,
> defenders against invented wrongs, castigators of those that play
> at "what if?" 
> 
> I am not impressed nor am I persuaded.
> 
> Kneasy


Actually that was me applying fictional ethical principles to the 
real world. I would never dare to impose my real world views on JKR 
to tell her what she can and cannot write. While you may not feel 
that the original comment was really applicable to you, personally I 
feel rather strong about the Centaur and Goblin rights to life being 
trampled here. 

-Maus