Last Judgement Love - Was (Re: No AKs )

[Mari]

No: HPFGUIDX 137262

Wanted to respond to some thoughts in this absolutely great thread :-D

Valky:

> I like Last Judgement Love, a lot. Because it *is* terrifying.
>I think this takes us back to the old question of what do we mean by
> love? The word is a catch-all. "I love you", "I love strawberries 
> and cream", "Don't you just love the way he scores points over the 
> other guy?"

Jen: 

> I talked about compassionate love at one point on this thread,
> feeling Dumbledore symbolizes this. And Saraquel replied: "To me,
> Last Judgement Love (for want of a better phrase) is the highest
> form of compassion....It destroys evil in the soul, leaving it pure,
> and in knowledge of its true nature, rather than damming it to
> eternal torment."

Now Mari:

This is something I've been turning over in my mind a lot in relation 
to the Harry Potter series. JKR certainly seems to be leading us 
towards a concept of love that is not just a feeling, it is a 
*choice*. Love can mean choosing to do something that totally goes 
against your inclinations, but you do it anyway because it is the 
right or necessary thing to do. It is very easy to think of love as 
a 'mushy' feeling; agape/last judgement love has little to do with 
our feelings and everything to do with the choices we make in 
relation to other people. The loving choice is not always the choice 
we want to make. The loving choice is not always the easy choice. The 
loving choice can mean sacrificing reputation, friends, trust, or 
even your life, if necessary.

> Valky:

> If any Snape lovers are still reading, this is the reason I have for
> believing that Snape can be redeemed again. For the first time ever 
> in the series I did see tiny glimpses of him in HBP *finally* 
> facing his own truth and walking the path he laid for himself 
> bravely, like a man ready to open himself to this Agape - Judgement 
> love.  There was also evidence in the potions book to me that 
> Sevvie was always capable of it, he just had chosen to take the 
> easy over what was right instead for some time. but I'll save that 
> for another post.

Mari again:

Yes, definitely. If Snape was acting according to Dumbledore's orders 
in a similar way to Harry forcing Dumbledore to drink the potion in 
the cave, this is a clear example of making a terribly difficult 
choice for the sake of love. For Harry and Snape to do what they did, 
their 'love' *could not* be based upon their feelings; it must be a 
conscious choice. I've outlined in previous posts that I think there 
is some evidence in earlier books of Snape making similar difficult 
choices that in no way benefit him, and they just keep getting harder.
It is all the more difficult for Snape as he has not had a lot of 
practice with this mindset as he was growing up, I can imagine. 

> Jen:
> The point I made about all the good Dumbledore did for many people
> and creatures is really only half of the equation for compassionate
> love. I think we saw the other half in the cave, after Dumbledore
> drank the potion. 

Mari again:

We also saw Harry's love for Dumbledore being put to the test; the 
easy choice would be to refuse to give Dumbledore the potion. The 
loving choice is to do what he knows is necessary to accomplish the 
task they came to do. This sort of love can seem harsh. It isn't 
separated from compassion though; when you truly love someone, you 
usually feel love for them. However, the next step is to do what is 
right/necessary/loving  even when your feelings rebel against it. 

This is the love that Harry is learning, and one of the reasons I 
believe Snape will be important in the last book whatever his role 
turns out to be. Harry will face one of his ultimate tests; showing 
last judgement love towards Snape, when his feelings about Snape push 
him towards hate rather than love. He has had practice though, in an 
easier situation; sparing Peter's life in PoA.

Fascinating Fascinating stuff :-)

Mari.