Religion in the Wizarding World.

[Geoff]

No: HPFGUIDX 191392



--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Steve" <bboyminn at ...> wrote:

bboyminn: 
> Do you assume Harry was baptized BECAUSE he has a Godfather? Those things are not necessarily tied together. People may or may not baptise their kids, and as a separate issue, and anytime, my choose God Parents for their kids.
> 
> In this context, 'God Parents' is simply a generic name for those who will be guardians if something happens to the parents, and is further an issue not at all tied to religion or baptism. 

Geoff:
In this, I would disagree.  Infant baptism in the UK is mainly carried out 
by the Roman Catholics and the Anglicans. I think that it is part of the 
Methodist church's structure but it is not part of most Non-conformist 
churches such as the Baptist church, of which I am a member. Godparents 
are named at such a service, especially if the parents are genuine Christians 
– more of that later.
Hence I would agree with Nikkalmati that the assumption can be made 
that Harry was baptised. There is other evidence that James and Lily
followed Anglican traditions. They are buried in the graveyard at Godric's 
Hollow and on their headstone there is the inscription: "The last enemy 
that shall be destroyed is death". This quote, in the Bible New Testament, 
is from Paul's letter to the church at Corinth:1 Corinthians 15 :26. 

Whatever may be the spiritual standpoint of anyone reading the book, JKR 
here indicates a Christian viewpoint writ large. Since the publication of DH 
in 2007, she has intimated on a number of occasions that she intended 
there to be a largely unwritten Christian underpinning to the story, 
similarly to JRR Tolkien in LOTR and, more overtly, CS Lewis in the Narnia
Chronicles.

bboyminn: 
> Further, keep in mind that the UK and EU are both more secular than the USA. The extent of many people's religion is confined to baptism, weddings, and funerals. It is entirely possible that much of the wizard world follows this same secular model. 

<snip>

> Finally, I think JKR intentionally wrote a secular book. She did not want to inject religious bias into the story. She wanted a more spiritual story that did not re-enforce any specific religion, nor does the book deny any specific religion. 

Geoff:
I think that you have made an unfortunate connection which I frequently 
try to undo in my discussions about Christianity in that you are considering 
"religion" to be the same as "faith". Your comment above about the extent of 
people's religion is quite true. There are many folk - certainly in the UK – 
who claim to be Christians by making a nod in the direction of religion. They 
have grown up in a nominally Christian family, have gone to Sunday school, 
go to services etc. but do this as a matter of upbringing and routine and have 
never made a personal commitment to God by way of Jesus Christ which is the 
lynchpin of faith. "Faith" is knowing that you have committed your life to God 
and that his Spirit lives in you and that, like more knowledgeable wizards, we 
know with certainty that there is an afterlife. I reached this point in my life at 
the age of 21 in my last year at teacher training college when I experienced a 
meeting with Christ.  

The problem was neatly highlighted by the erstwhile Archbishop of Canterbury,  
George Carey some year ago when being interviewed on BBC TV. After the 
news presenter made a comment, the Archbishop remarked: "Ah, John, you 
are confusing Christianity with Churchianity."

bboyminn: 
A Christian, Hindu, or Buddhist can equally read the books, and see the underlying spiritual message. This is not, nor was it intended to be, nor should it be, a book promoting Christian ideology. I think that was a very good and very wise choice. 

Geoff:
As I said earlier, it does not overtly promote Christianity but for those who care 
to look -  and to see - there are themes which are certainly basically Christian.