religion in the WW (wasRe: the missing godparent)

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 88324

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Pen Robinson <pen at p...> wrote:
> 
> >>> Carol:
> >>>
> >>> ...edited...
> >>>
> >>> However, I'm surprised that the WW has godparents at all, or that
> >>> they celebrate Christmas, Easter, have monks, and friars ..., or
> >>> even .. use such expressions as "My Lord!" and "Bless my
> >>>  soul!" .... Christianity in all its variants, ..., is a
> >>> Muggle institution,  ...edited...
> >>>
> >>> Carol, 
> >>


> Pen:
> 
> I seem to be in the mood to contribute to this thread, even though 
> the subject resurfaces regularly ...
> 
> I celebrate Christmas in the same way that the WW does: exchange of 
> presents, consumption of feast, decoration of premises. ....
> 
> None of the above seems to me to have religious significance.  I 
> would classify it as 'Tradition
> 


bboy_mn:

Two points-

Whether or not a person goes to church is not the measure of whether
they are Christians or not. Certainly, if you did a random survey in
the 'western' world, you would find many many people who emphatically
call themselves Christians, but who confess to rarely, if ever, going
to church. I would go one step father, and say that there are far more
Christians who don't go to church than there are those who do. (That's
my opinion.)

Next is the point that always comes up in this discussion, traditional
winter and spring celebrations have occurred long before Christianity
and Christmas (or Easter). In fact, what we call Christmas draws on
the mid-winter celebrations of many different European cultures and
traditions; clutures and traditions that were blended and evolved into
the current celebration.

In addition, Christmas and Easter are school term breaks, if nothing
else, they are an excuse to pause between terms and give both teachers
and students a well deserved break. So, even if the holidays weren't
named 'Christmas' and 'Easter', they would probably still occur, and
would probably still occur near the same point in time.


> Pen:
> 
> In omitting any reference to the Christian roots of these festivals, 
> JKR is (a) avoiding the issue of whether or not wizards have 
> religious beliefs, and what these might be; and, more importantly 
> (b) mirroring the normal behaviour of British society.   
> 
> ...edited...
>
> If Hogwarts did not take any notice of Christmas, it would feel as 
> though it were truly part of an alien society - and as I see it, the 
> Wizarding World is supposed to be hidden right next to us.  That is 
> part of its charm.


bboy_mn:

This goes to my previous statements about JKR's writing style, she is
able to create an extremely vivid, believable, and comfortable world
by drawing on images (stereotypes, common myth and folklore, etc...)
that were are very familiar with. 

> Pen:
> 
> ...  I suspect that JKR has her WW celebrating Halloween because of 
> the vague notion that it is a 'witchy' kind of night, ...edited...
> 
> Pen

bboy_mn:

And once again, JKR is playing on images and commonly held beliefs
that make the wizard world very comfortable and vivid for us.

While I could question the existance of Christianity in the wizard
world, JKR makes it seem like such a common and mundane aspect of
everyday life, that I believe it when I read it, and that is the
truest test of an author.

Just a few thoughts.

bboy_mn