John the Baptist again

[hogsheadbarmaid]

No: HPFGUIDX 124813


Snip snip... snipping loads of interesting stuff from many 
interesting people and keeping only these two statements from Antosha:


I'm going to jump in here quickly, and not snip, because it seems 
clear to me that you are speaking entirely different languages.

And later:

I think the point that Hans is trying to make, Geoff, is not that 
Jesus didn't exist, 

End of Antosha quotes


The Barmaid, who knows better, and has more pressing things to do 
this day nonetheless, wades in to the sticky swamp of Truth, Myth, 
Liberation, Christianity and Harry Potter:

Quite the little drama we have going here.  

The Players:

Hans – the mystic scholar – the alchemist if you will.

Geoff – the Christian apologist – hpfgu's own Lewis perhaps.

Tonks – loyal Christian – defender of the faith – perhaps a bit of 
St. Joan to be found there.

The brave Antosha – some sort of cosmic translator – perhaps a knight 
in ink stained armor – attempting a mythic linguistic metaphoric 
solution.

And off in the corner – little Harry Potter, scar on his forehead, 
bemused look on his face, in each hand he holds a book.  In the one 
on the left we see the title, The Half-Blood Prince, but nothing 
else – on the right – all we can see clearly is that it is a book – 
and this it contains the word _fin_.

The first thing The Barmaid does, of course, is offer a round of 
drinks – on the house – and proposes a toast.  "Here's to Jo 
Rowling!  The woman that has given us material rich enough to inspire 
our imaginations and emotions and deep enough to touch the nerves of 
our deepest held convictions.  Three cheers for Jo.  Hip hip hurray, 
hip hip hurray, hip hip hurray!"

Then she holds forth:

"OK
. Here is the thing I want to throw into the mix.  While I agree 
with Antosha that our players are speaking different languages I do 
not think any attempt at translation is the solution – or is really 
even possible.  The languages being spoken are not the languages of 
the mind, but of the heart and of faith.  To tell an Evangelical 
Christian that the historical reality of the life, death, and 
resurrection of Jesus is not the point of the _story_ of Jesus means 
that nothing else you say will be heard.  This is the crux of their 
world view.  For the Evangelical Christian to give proof of the 
historical reality of _their_ claims to those speaking of universal 
myth found in both Christianity and Harry Potter is equally futile as 
the focus these folks have on the _metaphor_ is the crux of their 
world view. 

Does this mean there is no hope of meaningful, civil communication 
between these two groups?  Of course not!  It seems that the key is 
for each group to avoid telling the other that their most deeply held 
convictions are irrelevant.  Taking care to use phrases like "Harry 
could be seen as a Christ figure" as opposed to "Harry is Christ" 
or "I see many parallels to the Pathway to Liberation" as opposed 
to "This is the Pathway to Liberation and that supercedes any 
parallels you will find to Christianity."   

I mean, you can say it the other way, if your goal is to be "right" 
and to quiet those that disagree.  And frankly a knock-down-drag-out 
bar fight can be _highly_ entertaining.  And it can feel good to lay 
out your argument in absolute terms and let the chips fall where they 
may!  But having a _conversation_ does require leaving some space 
open for the views of the others _in_ the conversation."  

Off at the end of the bar Harry nods and raises his glass for a 
refill, The Barmaid fills his glass; he drinks it down, and speaks.

"I find it all really interesting and everything that you people find 
so much meaning in my story.  And I am as anxious to figure out how 
it all will turn out as anyone is
 but ummm
 I am just a kid ya 
know.  Actually, just a fictional kid at that.   I'd sorta like to be 
able to just get through all these adventures I keep finding myself 
in – maybe get a good job after school – settle down – raise some 
kids, you know, fictional kids
  But I love to hear all these 
theories and ideas, so carry on."  

The Barmaid fills his glass again and looks at the others with raised 
eyebrows.

;-)

   --Barmaid