God in the WW? In JKR's words?

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 132250

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Jim Ferer" <jferer at y...> wrote:

Jim Ferer:
> What makes the books what they are are the themes of love (there 
have
> been few stories in many years with so much love in them), courage,
> sacrifice, and conscience.  It is Harry's power to love that 
separates
> him from evil; the story is full of sacrifice, with much more to 
come,
> I'm certain.  It is compassion for Luna that starts bringing Harry
> back to humanity at the end of OoP.  It is love for everyone that 
will
> lead Harry to whatever great sacrifice awaits him as the price of
> destroying Voldemort.
> 
> All this was done without any explicit mention of a religious
> framework. In this JKR reminds me of Tolkien, a devout Catholic, who
> espoused his inner experience through his characters. His friend
> Lewis, an equally devout Catholic, was more explicit, but their
> thinking was much the same.

Geoff:
I couldn't agree more. I've mentioned Tolkien and Lewis on many 
occasions in comparing the ethos of the Harry Potter books with those 
of Narnia and Middle-Earth.

The Wizarding World, like the others mentioned, is not overtly 
Christian but, as Jim says, what keeps the story on track is the core 
theme of love. This is not unique to our faith but the two "great 
commandments" as emphasised by Christ are the driving force behind 
the actions of Christian believers.

If I may pick up on one small point, Lewis was /not/ a Catholic. One 
of the most interesting features of their friendship was that Lewis 
came from an Ulster Protestant background which is very strongly anti-
Catholic - listen to the statements of people such as Ian Paisley to 
gat a flavour of it. He came to real faith with the help of Tolkien 
and Hugo Dyson. It was always a slight disappointment to JRRT that he 
did not embrace Catholicism but went on to becaome a leading 
apologist for evangelical Protestants.