Jeremy Reynalds of The American Daily has conducted an interview with John Granger, Hogwarts Professor and author of Looking for God in Harry Potter. This interview is very much worth the read. Bookmark it and keep it as a reference. He more than adequately deconstructs many of the anti-Harry arguments. Here’s an excerpt in which Granger shatters to all too common distinctions Christians try to make between Lewis and Rowling:
I told Granger, some people see a distinct difference between the writing of Rowling and Lewis. They say that while Lewis’ motivation was Christian, the driving force behind Rowling is far from certain.
Granger called that a “pretty silly argument!” He said Lewis was not hailed as a “Christian” writer prior to his apologetic lectures on the British Broadcasting Corporation becoming the renowned “Mere Christianity.”
“That no one understood he was ‘smuggling the Gospel,’” Granger said, “astonished Lewis who believed that readers in the UK in the late ‘30’s were smarter than that. They weren’t and we aren’t much better … Rowling is a professed Christian, Church of Scotland, has baptized her children (and) spoken to the Christian content of her stories. When will someone confront the Lewis fans (and) ‘Harry Haters’ with their bearing false witness against a neighbor? With their inability to read the books and see the effect Lewis and Tolkien patented, namely, delighting while instructing and baptizing the Christian imagination with echoes of the Great Story?”
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I would be interested in seeing evidence from interviews, biographies, newspapers and other sources of Rowling’s Christianity so that all may plainly see and judge for themselves and not have to take only your word or Abanes’s for it. I have seen only vague evidence so far, myself, and I am being optimistic, while at the same time, cringing with impatience and anxiety as I await the truth of the matter.
At the same time, I am tired of people judging Rowling negatively and not giving her a benefit of the doubt.
Jason, good thoughts. I entirely agree with you about judging Rowling and not giving her the benefit of the doubt. We’re so quick to judge whether someone is really really a real Christian or not.
Have you read the interview with the Vancouver Sun (link in my About page)? It seems difficult to see that reference as “vague,” given that a knowledge of the Christian story would allow any thinking reader to guess what’s coming in the books. You have to be referring to specifics in order to be able to guess specifics about the seies.
I’d also want to add that even if we had some irrefutable evidence that JKR’s Christianity is “false” (which is really hard thing for anyone to conclude), she’s still writing very clearly in a tradition of Christian literature. Even if she were not a Christian, the Christian themes are quite present in the novels because of their genre, and she has clearly disassociated herself with Wicca/paganism.
Yes, I read the discussion with Abanes you are referring to. I have been doing a lot of googling for Abanes discussions, and I am amazed at what I find. He often seems to lose his cool. Just for example, a discussion group on Yahoo has a file on their history
http://www.hpfgu.org.uk/faq/history.html#5
where they mention a heated discussion involving Abanes. In one post, Abanes called one of the fans “[v]ery clever, but also painfully stupid. How ignorant and judgmental”. As you can expect, this did not fall over very well with the rest of the group and they had to call the discussion to a halt. I also wasn’t too impressed with Richard Abanes’s conduct in a discussion on BeliefNet he had with Morehead and Killinger.
I have been disappointed that Rowling won’t talk more about her religion. I am now aware of what interview you are referring to, and I wondered if there were any other direct statements from Rowling or if that is indeed the only one we can go by. I did not think she was vague at all that she was professing to be Christian. She had said yes to the question asking if she was one. To claim that Rowling is a Christian is certainly not to contradict what she has said.
That being said, I have wondered what it is that I am (or was, the interview took place in 2000, long before OotP came out) supposed to anticipate in the upcoming book(s). I certainly have (or had) no clue. I take it that perhaps Rowling is afraid she’ll let something slip if she talks too much.
I reflect with disappointment whenever I read about Rowling’s divorce. But now that I think of it, my own father is divorced and remarried after an adulterous affair, has professed remorse since then, and I don’t doubt that he’s a Christian. I have no idea what Rowling might have actually gone through.
Jason, excellent reflections. I think it is always very wise of us to think inwardly before criticizing/judging outwardly, and that’s exactly what you’ve done here. Good for you!
I’ll check out your other references later today. Thanks for the discussion!
Great post – we’re huge Granger fans at Muggle Matters. I can understand totally understand why JKR doesn’t want to go out and make a big deal out of her religion in interviews and I’m glad she doesn’t. For someone’s beliefs, the proof is in the pudding, and in this case in the writing. The Harry Potter books are a well-written fantasy story in the tradition of Christian alchemical literature.
The reason I’m glad she doesn’t? An example: A while back in the ’80’s I was talking about how great it was that Bono from U2 was a Christian. The next thing you know they’re selling condoms at shows and acting bizarre to run away from the “Christian label.’ Artists don’t like being used to support anyone’s beliefs however noble.
The other interview in which Rowling speaks about her faith: see quick-quotes-quill and then CBS News World, 13 july 2000.
Jan, thank you. I’ll check that interview out when I get a chance.