God in the WW?

[Brian Brinkman]

No: HPFGUIDX 132160

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "tania_schr" <tania_schr at h...> 
wrote:
snip
Does the WW believe in God? 

snip...they celebrate Christmas with a dinner and exchange 
> presents, but nothing is ever heard about going to church or 
anything 
> like that.  Any thoughts?
> 
> Tania

Brian here:

Interesting thoughts.  I guess they're even more interesting because 
of the divide among Christians about the books.  

Of course it's up to JKR to write this into the plot if she wants 
to, but some observations shared between us could be entertaining.

The witchcraft presented in the books doesn't seem incompatible with 
most religions I know of.  The negative knee-jerk reaction from some 
Christians toward the series probably stems from Biblical 
admonitions against soothsayers and witches (which, IMO is a way of 
God saying he doesn't want us distracted by these, they aren't the 
true path).  Yet what JKR has presented doesn't seem like 
competition for most world religions.  It would be interesting to 
find out whether or not JKR has formulated a make-believe 
theological explanation for the existence of wizards and muggles.

Now, the short answer is this: No character has referenced God (or 
any other known ultimate reality), yet.  No one has even said, "Oh 
God," or "Thank God."  The closest we have is "Merlin," yet I stop 
short of thinking that Merlin worship is a feature of the WW.  Yet, 
I have no solid reason for excluding that possibility.

Yet Christmas and Easter remain, and the WW follows muggle 
traditions, and this is significant.

On the other hand, Harry seems to have no spiritual internal 
dialogue.  The narrative doesn't mention him thinking about ultimate 
reality.  The thoughts and observations we've been privy to, so far, 
have been steadfastly secular, and that's significant.

Then there's the interaction with Luna:

"Have you..." he began.  "I mean, who...has anyone you've known ever 
died?"

"Yes," said Luna simply,..." and so on...
a couple of lines later...
"But I've stil got Dad.  And anyway, it's not as though I'll never 
see Mum again, is it?"
"Er--isn't it?" said Harry uncertainly.
(863, American ed.)

Harry's reaction, to me, suggests several possibilities:
A. He's trained in a religion that doesn't emphasize an afterlife.
B. He has come to doubt a religion that does.
C. He has received little or no religious training.

If it is significant that wizards have celebrated Christmas and 
Easter and it's also significant that the overt contents of the 
books have been steadfastly secular, then it seems that the role of 
real world religions has been calculatedly subdued.

Why?  For one thing, mainstream western Christianity just isn't 
compatible with anything called "witchcraft."  So it would make it 
more difficult than it is already for a large bloc of readers to 
suspend disbelief.

Another thing is JKR's own religious temperament.  That she is a 
liberal Protestant seems likely.  She probably just wasn't 
interested in writing a formally religious tale.  Imagine what kind 
of mindset it takes to write formally religious tales.  Spiritual 
matters must be foremost in the author's mind.  The HP stories seem 
more interested in the observable events that happen in and on the 
world.  The tales are mundane (more at the word's etymology than 
it's current negative connotation).  Even though the events in the 
WW are extraordinary they are, so far, this-worldly.

One last significant point is that JKR has been careful to avoid 
references that would make the WW hostile to or with most mainstream 
religions.  There are no pagan worship scenes, nothing really for 
defenders of faiths to get their hooks into.

Some of it is undoubtedly calculated, but most is a byproduct of her 
own flights of fancy.

Just my own views!