Snape - a werewolf bigot?? Was: Say it isn't so Lupin!!!/ some house elves

[dumbledore11214]

No: HPFGUIDX 170136

> Dana:
> 
> Interesting because Lupin only puts people at risk once a month and 
> only at night time, yet he is treated like he is a danger all the 
> time.  
> 
> People with HIV are a risk to other people if they do not take 
> precautions, like having safe sex, being careful with blood 
products 
> ect. In Afrika women infect their children but with medication this 
> could be prevented. People with HIV however do not posse a risk to 
> people in normal life just as Lupin doesn't either. 
> 
> In my country currently there is a scandal about 4 people who at 
> parties injected people with HIV infected blood without their 
> consent, does this mean that suddenly all HIV positive people are 
> going to do this? That we are therefore having to ban these people 
> from their job, deny all of them a normal life because they might 
be 
> possing a risk at some time in their life's because that is what 
you 
> seem to be saying. 

<SNIP>


Alla:

Well said indeed Dana IMO. I was about to say the same thing - that I 
see Lupin's analogy with situation of HIV positive person as very 
very close.

Not exact of course, since werewolves do not exist as we all know, 
but I see plenty of similarities that you listed.

Now, I actually have more to say than just agreeing with you, heheeh.

I think JKR does it on purpose, often making fictional prejudice as 
sort of harder to condone.

Here we have the case of werewolf Lupin and other werewolves, who 
let's assume just for a second if they could want to work and not eat 
children, and it is far from clear that werewolves eat people, canon 
is at least giving two versions on it,and not suffer during 
transformation, etc.


Just as people with HIV they can give their illness to other people, 
if they are not careful.

Just as people with HIV they truly have no control whatsoever over 
the fact that they got their illness, unless somebody wants to become 
a werewolf, which I really really doubt.

But here is the fictional twist - werewolf without wolfsbane indeed 
has no control over biting somebody, while RL HIV positive person 
unless chooses so, will not of course give their illness to anybody 
else.

Does that make any difference that in both cases humans have 
illnesses one real and deadly and another fictional and deadly?

Not to me, definitely not. The fact that werewolf has no control at 
all over his illness without the potion does not change to me the 
fact that this person did not ask to become ill.
Do they have to be careful? Sure they have to, just as HIV positive 
persons should be IMO.

Does it mean that not giving them jobs or jobs to HIV positive people 
is justified? I can never see how.

And here we have house elves, over which we all argued many times as 
well.

I see clear analogies with human slavery, JKR said that it is just 
like slavery, etc.

But she throws in the twist of elves  maybe liking to serve humans, 
who are kind to me.


Well, maybe they do, we IMO do not know that, but to me right now 
analogy with slavery stands well, despite the possibility that given 
a choice elves may have chosen to serve anyways.

JMO,

Alla.