What's in the locked room?

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 89156

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "severelysigune" 
<severelysigune at y...> wrote:
 
Sigune:
> I entirely agree with Iggy.
> PLEASE let it not be Truth. That would be scary, spooky and far too 
> absolute. The existence of Truth would mean that there is a clear-
cut 
> Right (anything or anyone adhering to the Truth) and a clear-cut 
> Wrong (those who do not adhere to the Truth). That is extremely 
> dangerous - and very unsatisfactory in a story that thematises 
> tolerance. Let there be imagination, and speculation, and quests, 
and 
> uncertainty, and people trying to make the best of it.

Geoff:
I do not accept that the existence of a clear-cut Right (CCR) and a 
clear-cut Wrong (CCW) denies tolerance.

There have to be CCRs and CCWs. If there weren't, there would be no 
physical constants for a start and the universe wouldn't function. We 
wouldn't be here....

We, as humans, are not necessarily privy to these CCRs and CCWs 
although we may be seeking after them. As a result of this human 
condition, we fall between them. This is where the speculation and 
quests and inagination come into play because people /do/ try to make 
the best of it by seeking to reach out to these targets and deciding 
what they actually are.

If there are no CCRs and CCWs, in the same way as I suggested we have 
to have Basic Absolutes of Truth and Love, people would do what they 
wanted regardless of others (The "I'm all right, Jack" syndrome). 
Some people still do take this line but, whatever our cultural 
background and social mores, we all have a clear-cut conscience which 
we can either follow (like Harry) or fight against (like Voldermort) 
and that conscience supplies a background of CCRs and CCWs against 
which we can measure our progress as individuals.