religion in the WW (wasRe: the missing godparent)

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 88345

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Pen Robinson <pen at p...> wrote:


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.   While it is true that 
there 
> are some efforts made to note the religious aspects of these 
occasions 
> (Christmas carols on Radio 4, that kind of thing), and there are 
some 
> people who have sincere regard for the Christian meaning of these 
> occasions, it seems that most of British society regards them as an 
> opportunity not to have to go to work, to acquire expensive 
consumer 
> goods, and to eat and drink too much.

Geoff:
Bear in mind, however, that Hogwarts has been around about 1000 years 
and came into being at a time when Christmas was taken a good deal 
more seriously than being the celebration of materialism that many 
people have allowed it to become today.

Steve has commented on the fact that many people will claim to be 
Christian, some not even going to church which to me is a curious 
paradox although there is also the position of churchgoers who seem 
to attend simply because they were brought up to go. The now-retired 
Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, was being interviewed on TV a 
few years ago and to one question put by the newscaster replied, "Ah, 
you're confusing Churchianity with Christianity". I am a Christian. I 
claim to have faith but I do not claim to be religious because I 
believe the two are not identical.

I think it was also Steve who remarked about Christmas having grown 
out of other celebrations. It should be remembered that in the very, 
very early days of the Church, the only way in which many believers 
could celebrate - especially if they were slaves -was to hold their 
feasts etc. at the same time as the main Roman festivals; the 
Saturnalia for example fell in mid-winter so that became the date for 
one festival.

Turning to JKR, there are other instances of other Christian writers 
who have not created a world which is specifically Christian in their 
books but it is obvious where they are coming from; Tolkien is a very 
notable case, as is C.S.Lewis although "The Lion, the Witch and the 
Wardrobe" leans heavily on allegory.