I tend to agree.

So the whole school should celebrate Purim, Sabbath Yom Kippur Purim Christmas Ramadan New Year Easter Pentecost Ash Wednesday Thanksgiving Maundy Thursday and Eid?

@Mithrandir - If they celebrated every religious festival, there wouldn't be any time in the year for teaching.

@Richard so do none. Or each student celebrates their own religion's holidays.

@Mithrandir - But given that Christians are almost certainly the overwhelming majority at Hogwarts, wouldn't it make more sense to celebrate those holidays, especially in a majority Christian country?

@richard yes it would, from a Vulcan point of view. However, I would feel at least a little uncomfortable knowing that a different religion was chosen for everyone to be stuck with, while mine was ignored. Not to mention that the Jewish warlocks would be stuck with either missing classes all day sometimes, or breaking the law of their religion.

it appears that the celebrations are cultural / secular in nature not specifically religious (ie - there is as much religion in the actual celebration as there is in a valentine's celebration). Let's not read into the text more than is there (and let's certainly not turn this into a religious debate)

@nkcampbell But you can't deny that Christmas is religious. Also: Let's not forget our 'Be Nice' rule.

@Mithrandir as it is shown to be celebrated in the text - it is almost entirely secular compared to a purely liturgical celebration of Christmas

@Mithrandir - I'm reasonably certain that doing magic is already a massive fail when it comes to the Jewish faith; How are sorcery or witchcraft viewed in Judaism and Jewish Mysticism?

@richard I'm aware of that. However, that's beside the point. The question is 'why is Hogwarts more accommodating to one religion over others?'

Can you name even a single school in the UK that celebrates (by which I mean ‘gives students time off classes’, since actual celebrations in school are not common) either all possible religious holidays, or none at all, including Christmas, New Years’, Easter, etc.? Why should Hogwarts be so unusually in-/exclusive when nowhere else is?

@JanusBahsJacquet Since I know nothing about schools in the UK (or anywhere else) I can't. But Hoggy is basically the one magic school there, so I'd certainly expect it to be somewhat... Accommodating.

I'm not sure that sure that the other religions were added post facto. While Anthony Goldstein was not necessarily Jewish (until Word of God made it clear, of course), it seems plausible that Rowling intended him to be so from the beginning, just as it is not unreasonable to assume that Seamus Finnagan was Irish from the beginning. It wouldn't have been extraordinary to suppose that the Patil twins might have been Hindu or Muslim (or Sikh, perhaps?), even if the text did not make such a conclusion necessary. It would be strange if all wizards were Christian, IMHO.

As for Dumbledore being gay, I'm fairly sure his orientation was known as of Deathly Hallows at the latest. It's pretty easy to read that into his relationship with Grindlewald, even without authorial confirmation.

It should be remembered that Christmas is NOT a Christian holiday, it predates Christianity, despite the baggage it has picked up over the past two thousand years (including the name). Here in New Zealand, almost everybody celebrates it, whether you're Christian or not. I believe the UK is the same. The US is an outlier in this respect, I think.

@Jonah Patil is a Hindu surname. I'm not saying the Patil twins are Hindus, but by your logic, for all intents and purposes, they can be considered Hindu.

@HarryJohnston While you are factually correct, the issue here is not whether Christmas was originally Christian or not. As of today (and in Harry's time at Hogwarts), Christmas is a very important Christian festival, whether or not people of other faith celebrate it.

Not quite. What I'm saying is that it provides some support to the possibility that J.K. Rowling didn't add wizards of other faiths out of the blue.

@ʀᴇᴅ_ᴅᴇᴠɪʟ226: I disagree; if Hogwarts and the wizarding community in general considers it to be a secular holiday, the fact that some other people disagree doesn't really seem relevant.

@HarryJohnston Yes, but the origins of Christmas have nothing to do with its secularity as a holiday. People of all faith (in Christian majority countries) tend to celebrate the more fun aspects of Christmas because they are fun. Similarly, in India, the Hindu festival of Diwali has a lot of tradition attached to it. But people of all faith take part in the one tradition they enjoy, bursting firecrackers. My point is, origins of the festival have nothing to do with their secularity. People end up observing the more fun traditions, and that is what makes the festival secular.

@Jonah And I'm agreeing with you. Just clarifying the statement ...the Patil twins might have been Hindu or Muslim (or Sikh, perhaps?)... in your previous comment.

@ʀᴇᴅ_ᴅᴇᴠɪʟ226: fair enough, though I think it is at least somewhat relevant that the reason Western society celebrates Christmas isn't in fact because we used to be predominantly Christian - if only to try to make it clear that the idea of Christmas not being inherently religious isn't as silly as it probably sounds to the OP and many other US readers. See for example the comment above: "But you can't deny that Christmas is religious." Yes, I'm afraid I can. :-)

@HarryJohnston You can't deny that Christmas is Christian. Now, since I actually have never seen a real celebration of the holiday, I'm not sure to what extent, but you can rest assured that an observant Jew would not be comfortable with celebrating it.

@Mithrandir I'm afraid I'll have to agree with HarryJohnston. Christmas is Christian. However, I'm sure a Jew will have no problem exchanging gifts with his/her loved ones on 25 Dec. While I have no idea about Jewish custom, I can speak for Hindus. The tradition of exchanging gifts is observed during the festival of Diwali. But if you're in a Christian majority place, and don't have many people who celebrate Diwali with you, what's the harm in exchanging gifts on Christmas Day? I'm sure the same applies to Jews in a situation like that?

@ʀᴇᴅ_ᴅᴇᴠɪʟ226 Actually, it Jewish law to avoid imitating the nations around them. Sure, Chanukkah in America was influenced by Christmas, which is why they give gifts then, but elsewhere... Not really. Of course, you can give a gift anytime you want, as long as you're not celebrating the non-Jewish holiday.

Oh! Then I apologize if I have offended you or any Jewish custom in any way. It was not my intention at all.

@Mithrandir: this isn't an appropriate place to debate it, but speaking as a Christmas-observing atheist, yes, I do deny that. :-) (Email me if you like; my address is in my profile.) That doesn't necessarily mean that a religious person wouldn't be uncomfortable with celebrating it, of course: Oliver Cromwell, an extremely devout Christian, banned Christmas as a pagan festival.

@ʀᴇᴅ_ᴅᴇᴠɪʟ226 No offense taken.

@HarryJohnston Perhaps Christianity.SE?

@Mithrandir: well, Christians consider it a Christian holiday, obviously. :-)

To be fair to JKR, she hasn't depicted old Anthony Goldstein celebrating Christmas in any way. If he stayed back at Hogwarts over the Christmas holidays, and refrained from exchanging gifts, all he would be doing is eating special food at the feast (and probably watching his friends and professors burst crackers).

@Richard I never got past the first HP book, but your mention of Hogwarts being "LGBT-safe" has got me wondering: do they have magic spells to change one's (a) sex, or (b) orientation?

@Richard as a school governor of a Church of England primary school I can assure you other religious holidays are celebrated..

The UK definitely seems to view Christmas in a more cultural than religious way. I was born and raised in the country Hogwarts is in, am an atheist, and I celebrate Christmas. In my entire school year of 100 I think there were three people who identified as Christian, but everyone (except those of a different religion) celebrated the Santa-presents-snowman version of Christmas. In fact, the Hogwarts holidays (Christmas, Easter, a Halloween party) are basically bang on what we get in Scotland.

@NKCampbell That failed.

@atb - yes, celebrated in a sort of "look at the funny way that people in other countries live" kind of way. But not seriously and not consistently.

@ATB Was that the case 20 years ago?