unicorns and religious references in HP (was checking out the library book

[Neil Ward]

There are really two threads of thought in the recent discussions.  
If I've followed, the first concerns the presence or not of 
Christianity (primarily) within the JKR's imaginary world and the 
second concerns her possible use of religious themes, particularly 
Christian ones, in the Harry Potter series.    

Addressing the first point, some are arguing that references to 
things clearly associated with Christian beliefs are evidence that 
Christianity is or has been an active religion in the wizarding 
world.  As Olivier suggested, the best way to strengthen a theory is 
to try to test it rather than prove it.  Kneasy has taken this test 
into OT territory waving a smouldering torch, and I think I agree 
with him to an extent, whilst not swearing to have read every one of 
his posts.  

I think some of the things that have Christian connections are a 
reflection of the larger world that contains both the wizarding and 
Muggle worlds, not something enduring in the wizarding world 
(allowing for the possibility that the situation may have been very 
different in the past).  For example, Christmas is deeply rooted as 
an end-of-year festival in the Muggle world and not necessarily 
celebrated from a Christian perspective. I think that's why we see 
Christmas celebrated at Hogwarts and not the more logical Winter 
Solstice, but I don't see the presence of a Christmas feast as solid 
evidence of an active religion.   

The second point tracks back to the discussion on the force in the 
room. In that debate, I've been pulled in different directions.  I'm 
not sure I would recognise themes that seem immediately Christian in 
tone to others (unicorns?), but the exchanges between Pippin, 
Olivier and Neri have convinced me that JKR intends some direct 
relevance to Christian beliefs in the story and that this is key to 
its direction.  That said, like Neri, I imagine my own perception of 
the themes would be as moral/humanistic, particularly if they deal 
with things that are not exclusively Christian.  

I just wanted to add that I loved Mike's analysis of the motivations 
of fantasy writers.  I was wondering if Diana Wynne Jones would fit 
Goat's Law, but that needs some more thought... 

Neil