Sin/Redemption & Snape / Christianity in HP

[lupinlore]

No: HPFGUIDX 128337

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> 
> lealess:

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> 
> I do have trouble seeing the whole redemption angle, with reference to
> Snape.  It seems to me that redemption has to be granted, in a
> Judeo-Christian tradition, by some sort of god.  It is not something
> you give yourself, no matter how worthy your deeds or how pure your
> intent.  So will it be that Harry forgives Snape's sins, cures his
> guilt, and welcomes him into final reconciliation with the good? Or
> does redemption happen through death, especially through sacrifice,
> leading to full acceptance by good itself?  Redemption seems to be a
> Judeo-Christian deus ex machina.
> 
> Anyway, I am sure someone else can explain this concept, and I hope it
> is not off topic or offensive to anyone.
> 
> I was trying to think what Christian teachings really might be, and,
> reflecting my naiveté, they seem to include (1) following/
> honoring/ loving a certain higher power and (2) accepting Jesus'
> teachings as your path for coming into harmony with that power.  Then
> there is what I really took away from the many Sunday schools I
> attended: faith, hope and charity; love your neighbor as you love
> yourself; turn the other cheek; judge not lest you be judged; who
> among you will throw the first stone – that kind of good stuff,
> which
> I still appreciate.   It would be great if those concepts fit into the
> HP books.
> 

Well, let me start by saying that, although I think the Potterverse is
probably closer to Christian allegory than Joseph Campbell, I don't
think JKR is operating from any strict system of analogy.  Rather, I
think she is influenced by many different things, religion being one
of them.

To answer some of the questions, let me also acknowledge there really
is no generic Christianity.  The religion has thousands of variants,
some of which violently disagree with one another.  Let me answer from
the perspective of my own branch, Eastern Orthodoxy (which has some
strong similarities with High Church Anglicanism, as both are very
influenced by Patristic sources).

In that perspective, how you act doesn't matter much IN AND OF ITSELF.
 What matters is who you are.  Now, a person who is in harmony with
God (a process called "theosis" by the way), will act in a certain
way.  However, other people may act in the same way for a variety of
reasons.  To bring this to Snape, he may be working for Dumbledore
because he genuinely was sorry for his career as a DE.  However, he
may be cooperating with DD for other reasons -- to save himself, to
prove himself better than James Potter, etc.  Does this matter? 
Absolutely, from this particular Christian perspective.  Whether Snape
is one of the "good guys" or not doesn't depend on what he does, but
WHO HE IS.  And as we don't know who Snape is yet, we can't really
judge - except that JKR's pronouncements don't give one great confidence.

So, all I'm really saying is that if JKR is influenced by these
strands of Christian thought (I don't think she's deliberately
crafting an allegory a la C.S. Lewis) then she may well condemn Snape
as one of the "bad guys" even if he continues to support Dumbledore. 
Because how Snape acts isn't nearly as important as WHY he acts that
way, and if he is doing the right thing for the wrong reasons, he is,
sadly, one of the bad guys.

Now, this may not seem fair.  But, once again under this system, God
is above such mortal concepts as fair and unfair.  He (God) has made
his own basic commands quite clear, and He doesn't regard them as
suggestions.  

The question about trauma is an interesting one, and one theologians
and others debate.  But the traditional answer is that what matters is
whether one truly aligns oneself with the will of God (that is, the
Good, which is probably how the Potterverse will deal with the concept
rather than casting it in religious terms).  Excuses are not admitted.  

Which can lead to some very harsh judgments, but in many varieties of
Christianity judgment is one of God's chief prerogatives.  Jesus did
say turn the other cheek.  He also scourged the money lenders out of
the temple in a fit of righteous rage.  Christ was not always kind,
nor was he always forgiving.  He sometimes drew very clear lines, and
enforced them without much concern for individual circumstances or
possible mitigating factors.

So, to bring this back to Snape and others, once again all this means
is that in the end what Snape does may not turn out to be nearly as
important as who Snape is - or even more importantly, who Snape has
chosen to be.  Is he one of the good guys?  If his actions spring from
the right source, yes.  If they don't, no.  If he saved Harry because
he believed it was in accord with the Good, he is one of the good
guys.  If he saved Harry because he owed it to James Potter, he is
not.  If he fights Voldemort because it is right to do, he is one of
the good guys.  If he fights Voldemort to prove he is a better man
than James Potter, he is not one of the good guys.

Harsh, but possible.


Lupinlore