The Role of Religion in the Potterverse was Magical Latin

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 186180

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, No Limberger <no.limberger at ...> wrote:

No.Limberger:
> Do you believe that firefighters are Christ figures?  They do rather
> heroic things like going into burning buildings to save others'
> lives.  This would make any firefighter who has ever died in the line
> of duty of Christ figure.  The same would be true for any policeman,
> soldier, paramedic, nurse, doctor, bystander, etc. who gave his/her
> life to save someone else's life.  Darth Vader can also be a
> Christ figure because he gave his life to save his son's from the
> evil emperor, as would many other characters from Star Wars,
> Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, Superman, Spider-man, Batman,
> and the list just goes on and on and on, including pagan mythological
> figures who did the same thing, like Hercules.  Of course, Harry never
> saw the face of Christ in toast, tortillas or seat cushions as some
> people in real life have claimed.
> 
> People perceive reality the way that they want to perceive it.  If
> someone wants to see HP as a Christ figure, then that is what
> they are going to see because they want to see it.

Geoff:
I see your point to some extent because I have argued against anyone 
being a Christ figure whereas they can be Christ-like. I believe that 
God has created in us a conscience and also the existence of an 
altruistic part of our soul whereby we come to the aid of people in 
trouble.

If you look at disasters such as the Italian earthquake or even going 
back to the 11th September or 7th July attacks, you will see ordinary 
folk performing remarkable feats to assist those caught up in these 
events. Ordinarily, they would not pay much attention to other passers
-by in the street but the enormity of events brings out a new level of 
action. Your emergency service personnel such as firefighters are 
exercising this because they have chosen to make this altruism their 
work. Many members of the professions you list would say that they 
had not taken up just a job but a vocation; I did, as a teacher.

I sometimes wonder if you are deliberately choosing to be obtuse 
because those of us who are Christians or lean in favour of the 
Christian story see your links to mythical figures and your comic book 
characters as being irrelevant to the matter. There is historical evidence 
that Jesus was a real person and that other people who are involved in 
the Biblical narrative of Easter were also real.

Being a Christian is not like signing up to join a golf club and agreeing to 
a set or rules. It is the result of a personal experience of God which brings 
about a completely changed concept of what life is about.

Bruce made this clear when he pointed out that our belief is not just 
"Sunday only" and that JKR would almost certainly bring her belief into 
her story, even subconsciously. Carol also argued very  cogently that an 
author would draw on their own culture, beliefs and attitudes when 
writing a book of this nature.

At the risk of becoming boring, various contributors to the thread have 
listed numerous items, events and even comments in the book which can 
only really be interpreted as a nod to Christianity.

As you have said, we perceive reality in the way we want to perceive it. In 
that case, we have to accept that other people have different ideas without 
trying to discredit or rubbish those views or bulldoze through our own.