Harry Potter and the Sign of Cain

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 100388

Geoff:
To keep the post length down, I have snipped Iris' post completely.It 
was difficult to select sections and is easier if other group members 
read it in full at message 100316.

I read Iris' post with great interest and found it thought-provoking 
and very well expounded. It echoes thoughts which have been expressed 
on the group in the past and also supports much of the way I view the 
matter from a Christian perspective. Genesis 4:15 is rather vague in 
referring to the mark which Cain received. The teaching Bible which I 
am using gives me a cross-reference to Ezekiel where a mark is placed 
on the forehead of those who detest the wrong things being done; this 
apparently looked like an "x" but it is a different situation and may 
not be the same as that given to Cain because this is a saving mark, 
not a mark of condemnation.

It is interesting of course that, if Eve had not succumbed to 
temptation, the initial perfection of God's creation would have been 
maintained and the need for Him to come in human form as Jesus to 
redeem the world would not have arisen. However, this is one of the 
risks of free-will. If we were only able to follow the laws of God 
and were unable to choose otherwise, if God did not allow us to take 
risks which might harm us (I say this having spent last week mountain 
walking in the Yorkshire Dales!) then we would be little more than 
robots. We have been given the gift of free-will to choose which way 
we go in our lives and therein lies an inherent element of risk.

I obviously believe that Christian teaching shows us *the* way to go. 
However, other people will doubtless disagree with me but because 
they make different choices does not mean that they are evil in any 
way. What leads to evil is when a person uses their ability of free-
will to be selfish, to seek self-aggrandisement and to seek 
unwarranted power over other people and situations. This is the path 
which Voldemort has chosen and, as a result, has become unable to see 
any other point of view. I have, in the past, commented on LOTR where 
Gandalf, in the last volume, points out that it would never even 
enter Sauron's imagination to think that someone would seek to 
destroy the Ring to rid the world of its power and evil. He can only 
conceive of another Dark Lord rising to challenge him.

This is where, hopefully, we can all compare ourselves to Harry. We 
too are trying to make our way through life in such a way that we 
have a satisfying life style which also is beneficial to others. We, 
like Harry, have the same ability to make good choices or to mess up. 
However, Harry has before him an example of how not to do it in the 
shape of Quirrell's mantra "There is no good and evil, there is only 
power
" (PS "The Man with Two Faces" p.211 UK edition). We see 
Voldemort living parasitically in Quirrell, living a half-life on 
unicorn blood and yet still claiming what a marvellous guy he is 
going to be. And Harry also knows that he has made decisions which 
have been both good for himself and for the Wizarding World. It takes 
us back to Dumbledore's "It is our choices, Harry, that show us what 
we truly are, far more than our abilities." (COS "Dobby's reward" 
p.245 UK edition).

Yes indeed, Iris, I couldn't agree more. Though, there are really two 
marked men; Harry who like the folk in Ezekiel is marked because he 
acted (unknowingly as a child) in the cause of right. The other 
marked man is Voldemort who has marked himself by flying in the face 
of everything that would have made him a normal, feeling, warm human 
being and, in so doing, has in my opinion made himself virtually 
unredeemable.