Baptism/Christianity in HP: was Looking for God in Harry Potter

[Ken Hutchinson]

No: HPFGUIDX 153452

Tolkien is reported to have told a Bishop once that Lord of the Rings
is a "very Catholic" story. This may have been clear to the author but
I wonder how many readers come away with this view. His meaning is
more apparent to those who have read the backstory in his other
writings, I think. It is clear that in Tolkien's world the elves and
the "high humans" who were allowed to populate the island of Numenor
had a more direct access to God through what we would call angels than
the rest of humanity who were left mostly to fend for themselves in
fact. Something similar could be going on the the Potterverse, the WW
may have a different manner of relating to God and we either don't see
it or don't recognize it for what it is when we do see it. The other
possibility is that in both cases while the authors may be Christian
and view their stories as compatible with Christianity the stories
themselves are not concerned with religion and so we just don't see
the character's practicing any religion. 

Whether Harry's Christening is clearly an exception or not may depend
on British secular law. If British law allows the designation of a
guardian for a child in case of the death of the parents by secular
means then there would have been no need for Harry to have been
Christened at all. If this is the case then the Potters were concerned
about his spiritual welfare as well. If there is no provision for the
designation of a guardian by secular means in British law, if the
designation of godparents is the only means available to the Potters,
then Harry's Christening may have no religious implication at all.
Would someone from the UK care to enlighten us on that issue?

For me a nominal Christian is someone who practices the faith for
cultural and traditional reasons without any real belief in the
teachings of the church. Someone who likes Christ's teaching as a
philosophy but does not believe in God or sin or any such things, for
example. Such a person would not bother with a Christening under the
circumstances the Potters faced in their final days unless it were the
only means available to designate a guardian for their child.

One thing that surprises me about this discussion is that there are
apparently two Baptists here who are in some sense fans of the books.
This surprises me because the media and various Potter websites had me
convinced that *I* must be the only one!

Ken