Snape Harry and forgiveness/ judaism related/Canon for the Snape being abusive

[Miles]

No: HPFGUIDX 144244

Alla wrote:
> I finally found the quote, which I was looking for about forgiveness.
> I am bringing it up to show what kind of forgiveness I would like to
> see Harry give to Snape, if ANY.
<snip>
> One more thing, even though this is a quote from Judaism religious
> text, I am not a religious scholar, far from it,I am not even
> practising, I only know basics, so this quote is taken from the
> Internet and most likely out of context, so no offense is meant to
> any religious scholars.
<snipped rules from the Halacha>

Miles:
First, I do not like this type of Forgiveness, because the rules are strict
and "mechanic", whereas I prefer to forgive or not forgive depending on the
circumstances of every single case. I won't try to find religious 'evidence'
for my PoV ;).
We all have different beliefs (religious or not), so we could easily find as
much opinions as members on the list.
But this is only part of our discussion, and maybe the part we should simply
agree to disagree.
The more interesting part of the discussion is IMO, whether we really want
literature to be a copy of our moral beliefs. If you ask me - no, it should
not. I'm in no way deranged, if literature does not fit my personal moral
agenda. I do like the Tom Ripley novels by Patricia Highsmith - despite
their moral really is not mine.
I do not expect justice in fiction, as I had to learn that justice is rarely
part of the real world, either.
Obviously, we disagree in this point as well ;).

> Alla:
> NO, Betsy, I disagree. YOU don't think that they show Snape
> committing child abuse and again this is your absolute right, IMO,
> but I  do think that those quotes show really well Snape being a
> child abuser, so this is your opinion,not a fact. Just as my
> interpretation of those quotes is an opinion,not a fact of course.

Miles:
The point of disagreement is the definition of the term child abuse. It's
difficult to discuss definitions without revealing them. Without this, any
discussion will be totally pointless. So, maybe we should start with
definitions?
I'll try to translate a German definition I found:

child abuse df.
Damage of Health (e.g. by means of physical or mental torments) or
overexertion of a child or adolescent. In modern child protection: the
violent physical or psychical damage, which leads to injuries, repression of
development or to death, and which affects the well-being and rights of the
child.

If we use this or a similar definition, then it is difficult to find
canonical evidence for child abuse on Harry or Neville, because we do not
see any prove for (lasting) damage.
If we try to find a wider definition for child abuse, I would not like it,
because we should not use the same term for Snape being unfair to Neville,
and Tom Riddle petrifying or murdering students with the basilisk.

Miles