open letter to JKR

[susanbones2003]

No: HPFGUIDX 155697

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> 
> 
> Rebecca, I think your challenges to my choices of examples are 
> helpful..I should have thought more before posting my examples.
> 
> I do not agree that the religious books really changed things..I 
> think they were chronicles of change already having happened.
> 
> In fact, Uncle Tom's Cabin DID have a HUGE effect on attitudes of 
> people -- fueling the anti-slavery movement. I would also argue 
that 
> Gone With the Wind reflected and codified the revisionist notion 
that 
> the slave owners were (mostly) good guys who were treated badly by 
> the conquering Yankees. (there's an excellence book Lies My Teacher 
> Told Me by James W. Loewen that goes into these issues in much more 
> detail). I like Gone With the Wind much more than Uncle Tom's Cabin 
> despite the fact that I don't like GWWW's politics.....(btw)...
> 
> Re: the Da Vinci Code..I am aware that he doesn't get a lot of 
stuff 
> right..what I think he DOES get right is the Church's suppression 
of 
> the female in all kinds of different ways. Whatever we think about 
> Mary Magdalene, almost everyone thought she was a prostitute 
despite 
> the fact that that is never stated in the Bible. And, it was not 
> widely known before the DaVinci code, that there is a gospel with 
her 
> name on it that paints a very different picture of the early church 
> than is in the Bible....my point here is not that the DaVinci Code 
is 
> wonderful or accurate, but that it has triggered critical thinking 
> about religion.

Jen D. here
Do a little more critical thinking about that gospel with Mary 
Magdelene's name on it. It was written many years after her death. 
It's a "Gnostic" gospel and is widely discredited as having any 
connection to principle players of the Gospels. Dan did a wonderful 
job of repackaging a wide arrary of claims against the Church (the 
only safe villain in our world save Osama Bin Laden). See "Godspy" a 
wonderful blog for a great article about Dan's talents.
> 
> Re, Heinlein's book...it had a major effect on public attitudes 
about 
> sex and generated a religion that exists to this day...
> 
> Other examples of books that had major effects on public thinking 
are 
> Rachel Carson's the Silent Spring and Unsafe at Any Speed...
> 
> Art both affects and reflects reality...in my humble opinion.
> 
> Thanks for the opportunity for dialogue.
> 
> Susan
> 
> (Harry Potter for Grownups Over 40 is a low volume list..if you're 
> interested please email me at SusanGSMcGee at ...)
>
Books can change people's minds but I would not see HP root itself 
any more firmly in the "causes of the day." I want a good story, not 
a politcally motivated tract. I think JKR has been wise to chose her 
battles outside of our reality. They speak to our problems and they 
will speak to the problems of the world in the future (which will be 
somewhat different, if the past is any guide...)
Yes, civilized dialogue is unmatched...
Jen D.