[HPforGrownups] Re: The Role of Religion in the Potterverse was Magical Latin

[No Limberger]

No: HPFGUIDX 186147

>Pippin wrote:
>But it seems hard to argue that JKR is doing the same thing with
Christianity,
>particularly when she does use matter from astrology and alchemy in that
way.

No.Limberger responds:
Astrology was developed in multiple locations thousands of years before
Christianity
ever existed.  It was an integral aspect of ancient Egyptian religion,
Babylonian beliefs,
Hinduism in India, Chinese beliefs, several Buddhist traditions and even in
Central
America (the Mayans).  Early Christians did not invent astrology, they
adopted it
from other non-Christian sources.  Alchemy is believed to have originated in
ancient
Egypt and was attributed by ancient Egyptians to the god Thoth, long before
the
existence of Christianity.  Alchemy then spread to other cultures and
eventually
to Europe.

>Pippin wrote:
>JKR's imagery is Christian enough that a non-Christian like me can easily
recognize it.
>Why deny it?

No.Limberger responds:
I'm not denying that the imagery evokes similarities with Christian imagery,

but am saying that the imagery also evokes similarities with Buddhist,
Hindu,
Greek and ancient Egyptian imageries to name a few.  Why deny that the
followers of non-Christian religions cannot derive their own imagery?

>Pippin wrote:
>To say that none of this is meant to have anything to do with the reasons
that Lily
>and Harry decided to sacrifice themselves, or that Lily wouldn't think of
these
>concepts in a Christian context (particularly as she would have been
introduced
>to Christianity before she entered the WW) seems an awful stretch.

No.Limberger responds:
If I was a parent desperately trying to protect the life of one my children
and
placed myself between the danger and the child to protect child, I would do
so purely out of love and self-sacrifice for the sake of the child's life. I
don't believe
that I would be thinking about "gee, how can I make my actions more
Christian or more Buddhist (or whatever)?".

As far as "consecrated ground" goes, Hindu temples, Buddhist temples &
monasteries, Shinto shrines, Jewish synagogues, Muslim mosques, etc. are
each regarded as being sacred or consecrated.


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