Christianity in HP

[Megan]

No: HPFGUIDX 128415

Geoff:
> Excuse me but Christmas and Easter are NOT pagan holidays. By
> definition, they are Christian festivals.

(I do hope that I am quoting correctly, as I had troubles following 
the thread there - very confusing since so many people have talked 
about this...)

Skater 3.14159 comments:
"Christmas" originally was the celebration of the Winter Solstice, 
and "Easter" was related to the Spring Equinox and is named after 
Ostara, a fertility goddess... 

BUT the thing is that *most* cultures celebrate religious events at 
the following times of the year: equinoxes (spring and fall) and the 
solstices (winter and summer) because those are related to celestial 
phenomena that affect life on earth (harvests, legnth of day, etc.) 
that are easily observable and relate to religious symbolism well... 
and I think that JKR uses mostly *Christian* examples of festivals 
that occur near those dates because most readers can understand them 
(since most English-speaking readers are some kind of Christian). 
If she used Jewish, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist or obscure days, then it 
would not translate well, and many would not get the symbolism or 
main idea.

It does not bother me that she talks about Halloween, Christmas or 
Easter in her books because they are a part of life (in school they 
are holidays that you get breaks for -no matter what your 
faith/religious preference) and I enjoy celebrating them even though 
I am not Christian.
But that is just my opinion.

Skater3.14159