[HPforGrownups] Re:Witches, Warlocks, Wizards, and JKR

[Bart Lidofsky]

No: HPFGUIDX 168763

From: puduhepa98 at aol.com
>I am not sure how that passage cited by Pippin is a mistranslation or what  
>Bart would cite as a better one (necromancer?)  The OT has several passages  
>which condemn witchcraft, so the sentiment at the time was widespread in Israel  
>and Judah.  I am not sure how much the persecution of witches by King Saul  
>has to do with our canon, but I believe the Christian persecution, which was  
>carried on for centuries by all denominations, has something to do with our  
>story.  I know Hagrid  attributes the Statute of Secrecy to keeping  Muggles 
>from turning to wizards to solve all their problems and Binns assures  his 
>classes that real witches were not executed, but it must have been  troublesome for 
>most witches to be accused and tried and I believe there was  some 
>confiscation of property involved? :>)   In any case, some  Muggles must have died.  The 
>period of 1692 was just about the time witch  hunting was tapering off 
>although it continued at least in some places until the  1750's.  One could claim the 
>Statue of Secrecy and the separation of  witches and wizards from Muggles 
>ended the hunts.  I understand why JKR  downplays this aspect in children's 
>books, but the hysteria created by a witch  hunt is no joke. 

OK, trying to keep this as on-topic as possible:

In JKR's world, magic is just another technology. Many Christians who praise her work recognize this, and recognize the Christian philosophy throughout the books. The books, like many others, concentrate on the two sometimes conflicting philosophies on which Western Civilization is based: Judeo-Christian vs. Greco-Roman. The major conflict comes when one's obligations conflict with one's morals. In the Judeo-Christian philosophy, morals come first. In the Greco-Roman philosophy obligations come first. And, in Harry Potter, the lessons are clearly in the Judeo-Christian direction: Do what's morally correct, and if the rules say otherwise, break the rules and face the consequences. 

In intelligent Christian objections (intelligent being defined as based on knowledge rather than ignorance), the problem with the Harry Potter books is not that they are Witches and Wizards (although "witch" is an unfortunate term) but that the books imply that salvation is possible without Jesus (I didn't say I AGREED with the criticism; only that they have their factual information straight). This is opposed to the group who don't bother reading the books; they see that "witch" is mentioned, and therefore the books must be a tool of Satan (as the representative of the deomonic enemy of God, rather than the representative of materialism devoid of spirituality). Unfortunately, as ignorance exceeds intelligence, the latter criticism far outnumbers the former criticism. And a lot of it comes from people who believe, at best, that the King James Bible is more authorative than the Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek and Latin originals, and, at worst, believe that the King James Bible IS the original. This is not helped by modern translators who (and I have had this confirmed, albeit with a promise not to mention their names, by several modern translators) that it is considered to be "bad form" to take care in translating sections of the Bible dealing with magic, because that implies that one actually BELIEVES in magic.

In this philosophy, a witch is one who gives their soul to Satan in return for temporal power (note the implied materialism devoid of spirituality, however). BTW, strictly as an aside, the infamous verse, which uses some rather strange phrasing even in Hebrew, based on context and similar phrasing used elsewhere, is best translated as either, "Do not hire someone to perform magic to harm others", or, "Do not allow someone who uses magic to harm others in your community", although the noun is clearly in the female gender. And note that, even if the harmful part is taken away, the people in the WW live separate from their neighbors, even when they physically live in the neighborhoods.

What I see as a danger with the Harry Potter novels is the development of a fandom (notably among the adolescent audience) who clearly DOES NOT GET THE POINT. I am talking about those who see themselves as the wizards and witches, and call non-fans of the book "Muggles". But one of the major points of the books, as far as I can see, is that their superior power does not imply moral superiority; indeed, in many ways, the WW culture is morally INFERIOR to the Muggle culture around them, in that their bigotry is still entrenched in law, rather than thought of as an undesireable trait. Dumbledore accepts it sadly, Hermione is taking a Panzaistic attitude paradoxically pushing her into a Quixotic campaign (she would have done much better if she accepted House Elves for what they were, and pushed for better treatment rather than freedom). 

Bart