The Role of Religion in the Potterverse

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 186215

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

No.Limberger:
> Thus, while Harry Potter is set mostly in the modern-day UK and
> was written by an English author who has been influenced by
> personal Christian beliefs to an indeterminate amount, the
> vast majority of the people reading it are not in the UK and a sizable
> minority of possible majority of the people who have read Harry
> Potter are not Christian.

Geoff:
I do not think that that is relevant to the current discussion. When 
JKR wrote the books, she did not realise that she was creating a global 
literary phenomenon. Bear in mind that she had trouble even getting
the first book published, let alone selling  X million copies worldwide.
 
No.Limberger:
> While Harry may have been exposed to some religious education
> prior to his seven years at Hogwarts, at no time is the content
> or his state-school education discussed in Harry Potter. 

Geoff:
Why should it be? That aspect of Harry's life has little or no bearing 
on what happens to him after the age of eleven. Similarly, we are not 
told whether he had porridge or Corn Flakes for breakfast (if he did at 
all), how often he had a bath or changed his underwear....

No.Limberger:
> Given that Hermionie also came from a muggle home, she no doubt
> also would have attended a similar state school until she was
> accepted at Hogwarts.  Like Harry, she never discusses religion
> and for someone as intelligent and studious as she is, religion
> does not appear to be a significant matter to her.  Given their
> lack of religious interest coupled with lack of significant
> evidence that religion plays a major role in the overall WW,
> I remain unconvinced that JKR had any intent making religion
> a major aspect in Harry Potter.

Geoff: 
I quite agree with your comment about Hermione. I believe that 
JKR has incorporated it as a subtext into the Wizarding World. In 
the real world of the UK, we do not necessarily stop to think about 
the religious aspects of hospitals, schools, the legal system of ethical 
views but these all sprang from those roots and are therefore part 
of the structure of the UK's cultural foundation.

No.Limberger:
> When someone dies in Harry Potter, where is the priest
> or vicar that overseas the funeral?  Who administers any
> religious rites?  No one.  The notion that there is a deliberate
> or implied Christian undertone is not supported by the
> books themselves.

Geoff:
But we don't see many funerals. And, at Dumbledore's funeral, 
JKR very coyly makes Harry  catch only odd phrases of what is 
said by the officiating officer (whatever rank or station he 
holds). So we are not really able to analyse what has been said.

Just as a side issue, how do you therefore interpret Dumbledore's 
comment: "After all, to the well-organised mind, death is but the 
next great adventure"?
(PS "The Man with Two Faces" p215 UK edition)

Geoff:
> >It is believing that Christ has come into our lives, that
> >God lives within us in spirit and guides us if we are
> >prepared to pay attention.
 
No.Limberger responds:
> Name one character in Harry Potter who asserts this.

Geoff:
That wasn't the point of the comment. If you put what I wrote back 
into its correct context, I was discussing the way in which different 
members of the group had considered the phrase "Christ figure" and 
the differences between nominal Christian belief and the real thing.

No.Limberger:
> I see no compelling evidence within the Harry Potter novels
> to support the notion that they were based upon Christianity.

Geoff:
Which is your privilege and choice. However, by the same token, 
many of us here have the privilege and choice of choosing to take 
a different interpretation of the writings.

I hold to the view that we can all have our own opinions. What I do 
find irritating is that you give the distinct impression that if we do 
that, we are lectured that we are not allowed to believe that JKR is 
drawing on her own (and our) cultural heritage because the books 
have reached beyond the group which she aimed at - which was 
a readership brought up in and knowing the ins and outs of UK 
cultural traditions by which they would recognise the subtle nods to 
belief which occur.