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this is from the harry potter alliance, it is great!:
"I'd like to throw out a new word: "Muggle Mindset."
In Harry Potter, we learn that just as the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters (OotP 502) it is also not split into the magical and non-magical.
Like the Dursleys, there are plenty of magicians who live afraid to be seen as any thing more than "perfectly normal, thank you very much" (SS 1). Further, their innate desire to not be "involved in anything strange or mysterious" (SS 1) forces them to have very little understanding of Albus Dumbledore.
Take Dumbledore's funeral: "'Nobility of spirit,' 'intellectual contribution,' 'greatness of heart.' It did not mean very much. It had little to do with Dumbledore as Harry had known him. He suddenly remembered Dumbledores ideas of a few words, 'nitwit,' 'oddment,' 'blubber,' and 'tweak,' (HBP 644).
Dumbledore did not conform to the stale, unimaginative standards cast by the Muggle Mindset. His words and deeds came deep from his soul. From a place of love. It is for this reason that Voldemort was so scared of him.
Our culture is also entrenched in a Muggle Mindset. We are obsessed with looking normal, acting normal, being accepted as normal. And so what is normal in our culture?
Well, here's one that's obvious: money. Many of your parents, your communities, or you are obsessed with how much money you have. Sometimes I'll talk to a kid and the only thing he'll want to talk with me about is what his parents just got for him.
But in a world where love is the most powerful form of magic, hugs and tears and openness are worth more than a Mercedes. Being human, opening to our creativity despite how scared we may be, can come in handy more than the latest I-Pod. And of course, having compassion, integrity, and forgiveness are more honorable than an Oscar award.
Sadly, myspace itself is often one of the greatest examples of the Muggle Mindset in action. The entire site is saturated with ads continuing to remind us that apparently, our worth can actually be measured by what we buy.
But it gets worse. Just take a look at the models in the advertisements that fill myspace. What message are they sending us about the "normal" way for women to look?
JK Rowling herself had a wonderful rant about this very subject that you can check out right here. My favorite part of the rant: "Maybe all this seems funny, or trivial, but it's really not. It's about what girls want to be, what they're told they should be, and how they feel about who they are. I've got two daughters who will have to make their way in this skinny-obsessed world, and it worries me, because I don't want them to be empty-headed, self-obsessed, emaciated clones; I'd rather they were independent, interesting, idealistic, kind, opinionated, original, funny a thousand things, before 'thin'. And frankly, I'd rather they didn't give a gust of stinking chihuahua flatulence whether the woman standing next to them has fleshier knees than they do. Let my girls be Hermiones, rather than Pansy Parkinsons."
To add to Jo's sentiment on this subject, my advice to the girls who are reading this: if you want to see the way a woman should look go over to a mirror right now and look at your reflection. Accept yourself and be proud of who you are. Guys, I hope you do the same. I dont care about what the "naughty/nice obsessed" True.com or any other Muggle Mindset web site has to say with its images: there is nothing more truly attractive than a person who is working to believe in themselves.
A 150 year old wizard named Albus Dumbledore lived his life understanding this. Let's take a page from him and some of his greatest students.
As always fellow members of the HP Alliance, be well, walk in sunshine, and may the Fawkes be with you,
Andrew Slack
Harry Potter Alliance"
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