Well, this is interesting news.
According to a recent CNN article, the world famous British author J.K. Rowling, while wrapping up a brief "Open Book Tour" of the U.S., was asked by a young fan whether Dumbledore, the old wizard mentor of Harry Potter, finds "true love."
"Dumbledore is gay," the author responded.
Gasps and claps erupted in the audience. Huh?
OK… is that a yes or a no?
Amidst the shock and applause that fanned out over the fans at that sitting, I wonder if anyone saw the irony here. The hollow space of the unanswered question. Now with the ripples and the waves on the water caused by this comment, will we ever get to see the answer reflected?
Rowling was said to have regarded her Harry Potter series as a "prolonged argument for tolerance" and urged her fans to "question authority."
Oh boy…
But I'd like the answer to the question about finding "true love."
Dumbledore is gay? What does this mean? How will this affect the young readers across the planet who have looked on Dumbledore as a kind of grandpa — Obi-Wan Kenobi for a new generation of Luke Skywalkers looking for wisdom? Will this give them light and clarity about their own direction? Because good stories should do that: lead us to the light and not to fog.
The Potter series, which ended on a very clear note with the triumph of good, has added another big question to the many previously raised by discerning readers, the issue of "sexual identity." I thought it was a story of good and evil, of courage and bravery in the face of tyranny and deceit? I guess there's more to this book than its cover?
Of Its Time
Our culture is in the midst of a sexual crisis. What does it mean to be a man? What does it mean to be a woman? Are there distinctions, differences? Are they merely biological? Can they be manipulated or conditioned? Can we decide to alter, recreate, and refashion our bodies any way we want to? Is our sexual identity as male and female just like parts that can be replaced or rearranged? Or is there something more than just biology about our bodies? Is there a theology, something cosmic, something spiritual, something distinct, in our creation as male and female? Is there something complimentary in the very universe that echoes a Masculine and Feminine? It seems that every culture and every religion since the beginning has seen in earth and sky, seed and sower, flower and bee, a great truth manifested for us.
What is that truth? That the very difference between man and woman is literally what unites us. Our sexual difference is literally what brings life into the world.
Now let's look at Dumbledore, the homosexual wizard. Do homosexuals love one another (even wizards?); they can absolutely love one another. But there's love for all, and then there's the sexual expression of love meant for man and woman as part of God's plan for bringing life into the world. Is homosexual love in this sense even possible? No. The very act itself is a forcing, an act that even biologically doesn't work. No word, no agenda, no person can change that. Does this mean that homosexuals are evil and are going to Hell? No.
It simply means that we are living in confusing times. It means that all of us are still looking for Love, still peering out through foggy, distorted lenses that haven't been set right since the Fall, when our first parents reached out to the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and decided that they would rather make up the rules for themselves. That's what sin is at the end of the day. Sin says "I don't trust this plan of love. I want it another way."
This is a hard teaching, I know. It's difficult especially for those suffering from strong, often overpowering, emotions toward someone of the same sex. And there's no magic wand of wood that can make it go away in an instant. But we're not bound by sin anymore. The Wood of the Cross can set this right, can re-order our hearts, can lead us to life.
Therein is the answer to the question of finding "true love." It's there at the foot of the Cross that our love can be remade, our hearts refashioned. May He turn our water into wine and fill us with His Love!
Now that's magic.
