religion in Harry Potter?

[javasaurus]

Does Harry Potter go to church? They celebrate Halloween and Christmas (not Yule), Harry has a godfather, there is an afterlife, as demonstrated by the existence of Peeves and Nearly-Headless Nick and Moaning Murtle. It has been suggested online that Harry was raised Protestant, Ron is from a large Catholic family (stereotyping?), and that Hermione is Jewish (though she does send Harry a Christmas present). I don't remember if the graveyard scene in Goblet had a cross (movie or book). The Dursleys tell neighbors and relatives that Harry goes to a school called Saint Brutus'.

So I think church and God exist in the world of Harry Potter, but we are seeing the world through Harry's eyes, not an objective lens. If the Dursleys went to church it was to meet societal expectations, not to pray, and they would not have taken Harry, so there was really no religion in the Dursley house. And without a religious upbringing, Harry (and thus the audience) may be oblivious to the religious inclinations of those around him.

Comments

[acroyear70.livejournal.com]

Religion in the UK is a very different beast from religion in America. Most families celebrate Christmas with no reference to Jesus at all, and many consider themselves Anglican without ever stepping into a church, merely because their parents were and they didn't see any reason to decide they were otherwise.

Really, it's sort of there, but because it has little bearing on politics or education, it's not really something that's talked about much. Even the most "militant" atheists out there in the UK like Dawkins or the late Douglas Adams found they were more apt to aim their arguments against religion to America and not to the UK, mostly because, as I said, it doesn't affect politics much at all.

Schools with "saint" in their name are all over the place, and very few of them are actively religious and those that are, being Anglican, don't "shove it". Like most Catholic schools in America, they're better at teaching science than many public schools.

Even in North Ireland, with the "protestant" v "catholic" history, its really *always* been a racial and political thing first with religion being an easy excuse, an easy identifier, when other aspects of life in Ireland started to merge, but never really at the heart of the conflict.

Ghosts are a different kind of afterlife from the *true* other place, as Nick clearly explains in explaining why Sirius isn't a ghost at the end of book 5.

Really, you've got to understand that the power the Religion has in America is an exception in the west, not the norm. Rawling treats religion in the UK exactly the same way everybody else there does: it's there, it's tradition, aspects of our culture constantly remind us of it, it made for some nice pieces of art, but otherwise, 'eh?

[acroyear70.livejournal.com]

btw, i haven't even begun to talk about the impact of the world wars on the faith of the UK.

but consider this for Rawling: no, she doesn't mention Christianity aside from Christmas (treated, as most Brits do, as a secular holiday and tradition rather than a Mass of faith).

But she also doesn't mention nor invent any "Wizard" religion either. there are legends, and certainly the Dark Lord would want people to effectively worship him in the new order, but beyond that?

http://www.vexen.co.uk/UK/religion.html#OrganizedReligion - this gives some statistics on those that consider themselves religious (confirming my report that many who call themselves that have never been in a church). as such, mentioning it would have been such an odd exception that some would have proposed she was proselytizing, which she certainly wouldn't have wanted to be seen as since it would have distracted from the message.

The Potter books are a "threat" to american evangeslists not because of the alledged truth behind the magic presented (since we all know its all fiction), but because the characters by being strictly secular yet still showing a strong moral base, it shows a believable world where religion is not necessary for a strong, internal, moral code. this is the ultimate statement of enlightenment thinking, and is the ultimate deterrent to those faiths maintaining their fearful followers.