The Role of Religion in the Potterverse was Magical Latin

[Carol]

No: HPFGUIDX 186156

No.Limburger wrote:
> Unfamiliarity with other religions does not mean that no other religion can view elements of its beliefs within Harry Potter. <snip>

Carol responds:

Although some literary critics have argued against the existence of universals, I think we can fairly claim that most works of literature contain universal elements (love and death being among the most common) that all people can relate to. But applicability, as Tolkien once wrote, resides in the freedom of the reader. It's different from the intention of the author. It's also different from the unconscious elements that appear in a work because they reflect an author's worldview. JKR is a Christian author who has struggled with her faith, and both her Christianity and her struggle (for example, Harry's reaction to the inscription on his parents' tomb) can be found in her books.

I can think of no explicitly Buddhist elements--and no reason for them to be there. By the same token, I would not look for explicitly Christian elements in a book by a Buddhist (or, say, a Buddhist who had lost his faith or converted to Islam). That's not to say that shared or universal elements that a Christian could relate to wouldn't appear in that book, but I doubt that they would have been intentionally placed there.

I'm still not sure why you're resisting the idea that Hogwarts, which was founded in a Christian country during a Christian era, would have been influenced by that culture, as would the British WW as a whole. If JKR were writing about a Wizard from Tibet, we would expect him to be influenced by Buddhism, but I don't see how Harry could have been. I don't even see any evidence that he or his culture is influenced by Druidism, which is considerably more surprising (IMO).

Carol, who thinks that people of all faiths (or none) can relate to the HP books as evidenced by their popularity in many countries and languages regardless of whether they see or relate to the specifically Christian elements