I guess I’d need to read the article, but this isn’t what I got from the quote at all. I mean Lincoln was a “good president”, but the country still had problems. God is a “good God”, but the world is still corrupt.

Dumbledore is very interested in free will. He might be powerful enough to *make* people do things his way, but to robb people of their free will would be a direct violation of what he sees as a basic definition of self.

I think that’s one of the ways he mirrors God. God *could* force us to all be perfect little robots, but with out free will our obedience holds no meaning.

I’ll look into the Emmeline Pankhurst stuff.

Lenin, for example, referred to GBS as “A good man fallen among Fabians”. “Fallen among thieves” is of course the biblical example, and with regards to the thieves’ kitchen air of 12 Grimmauld Place, and in particular, the dubious activities of Mundungus Fletcher and, for that matter, Arthur (who gets 10 world cup final tickets in the top box for helping Ludo Bagman out of a spot of difficulty) the comment seems even more apt to describe the Order.

It might be worth looking closer at some of the parallels you seek to draw.

Emmeline Pankhurst (with her husband) were undoubtedly members of the Fabian Society in its early days. But she had moved away from it even before her husband’s death, precisely because the couple thought not enough was being done, specifically on the question of votes for women and Home Rule for Ireland. Emmeline Pankhurst’s WSPU split from the Fawcett Society (which had a number of members in common with the Fabians) because she favoured direct action (or what the authorities of the day undoubtedly saw as terrorism and reacted to as such) to advance the cause of women’s suffrage and which was the very antithesis of the Fabian approach. Lingering bitterness over this split (and whether Pankhurst created a cult of personality rather than a genuinely grassroots movement) can be traced in histories of the topics, with a number of prominent Fabian writers weighing in against Pankhurst. In any event, the WSPU colours were purple, white and green; a green shawl might be worn to show sympathy, but it might also be a sign of support for Irish republican politics. Or, of course, a fashion accessory.

I also note that you make the usual confusion between Beatrix Potter, author of Peter Rabbit, and Beatrice Potter, who, with her husband Sidney and under her married name of Webb, was the author of A History of Trade Unionism and Industrial Democracy. I believe the confusion frequently occurred during their lifetimes, to the irritation of both.