Approaches to Death

In a previous post ("Family Tradition") I noted the differences between Voldemort and Dumbledore in how they play their "chess game" and that Dumbledore's distinctive is that his approach involves family tradition and passing his wisdom etc on to an heir, Harry. I'd like to develop that theme further in light of some of the things I have been putting out recently concerning the serpent in the garden of Eden and the first sin. Background I wrote a paper for an undergraduate Old Testament Survey course on "Why did Adam sin" and the nature of the first sin. Pauli read that paper at one point. In it I sided with an interpretation that saw a sexual nature in the concrete form of the first sin. I have since changed my view on that matter (based primarily on narratological grounds, that within the flow of the narrative of Genesis 2 the prohibition of the second tree, which is the specific command broken and thus a defining factor of the sin, appears before even the statement of a need for a suitable soul-mate for Adam, let alone the actual creation of the woman. I mention all of that partly for information for an readers who are concerned with the study of Genesis, just to provide some thought on why I have changed.) BUT I still think that what I will call the "fertility cult mentality" is a huge theme in Genesis, as most of the surrounding pagan religions were nature religions/fertility cults (the way in which the issue of sexuality relates to the issue of what the first sin was, can be seen in the fact that before the sin the couple was "naked and not ashamed" and after they were "naked and ashamed" and the fact that in other places in the Pentateuch sexual intercourse is referred to as "uncovering the nakedness" of so-and-so ... actually it is mostly used of sexual perversion, in particular incest. As I said the sin and temptation to it get to the very heart of what is behind the creation of sexuality) My point in bringing that up is to bring up the issue of the fertility cult mentality so that I can compare and contrast Voldemort's and Dumbledore's approaches to death with it (as I will describe in a moment, I believe the fertility cult mentality to be based in a fear of death) and maybe shed a little more light on how the approach to death relates to what I said about how each plays his "chess game." Fertility Cult I believe the fertility cult mentality to be based in a fear of death. The reality of death is observed and then feared. It is known to be inevitable and thus trying to "avoid" it does not really make sense. But seeing that inevitability leads to a sense of futility in the living of one's distinctive life. If what one makes of oneself eventually just ceases, what is the point in making anything of oneself? The "answer" is procreation. This is not what we moderns will usually think of as "sexual sin," which is based in lust for the pleasure of sex (enjoyment of that pleasure as part and parcel of the pleasure of holistic/personal unity with a spouse is a good thing, a very good thing - lust is something different). Of Course, this sexual sins is extremely conducive to the sexual sin of lust, but what defines it is the idea of "if I have a child I will pass on who I am, I will live forever in my descendants." The pagan "orgy" (a word which interestingly comes from the Greek word for "anger" or "madness") was a ritual celebration of the passions (hence the frenzy) as participation in the creativity of the gods and fertility as the gods gift in answer to death. Voldemort Voldy's answer to death is pretty straight forward, "I will avoid my own personal death at all costs - no matter how many other's deaths I have to cause and no matter how debased the form of life I have to accept to do it. I will change the definition of life to fit the statement that the form I have is the best." I think this is why killing is so important to him; rampant murder sort of heightens the general impression that the best kind of life is to still have it (still be drawing breath in your physical body). Dumbledore Dumbledore is the one that I really want to contrast to the fertility cult mentality so as to clarify what I mean about his view of "procreation," or passing something on to his "descendant." Dumbledore accepts death, but it might also be said that the pagan accepts his own personal death, but he lives on in other ways in his spawn. Dumbledore however is not concerned with his own personal "legacy," with his name being remembered as great and in being an honored ancestor and all that. For him it is a good that Harry exists simply because Harry is a unique individual person. It is also good for Harry that he participate to the best of his ability (which is obviously a very great ability in him) in the fighting of evil (good for his own sake and the sake of others, not simply "good that the heir of Dumbledore gets renowned."... The builders of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11 said, "Come let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth."). In other words, to Dumbledore, passing on to his heir is important not because in it he gains immortality through fame or some sort of veneration of ancestors (not that venerating our predecessors is bad, but in pagan cultures it usually took the form of some sort of religious worship). It is important because what he has to pass on is objectively good in and of itself (it doesn't need him to be good, although he can be a very effective agent in implementing it in the world), and because the heir and those the heir serves are intrinsically of worth beyond measuring simply because they are people. He loves them with true love so why would he not be concerned with these things being passed on to them?