It is the weekend of Easter. For many in
the West these few days have become another ‘holiday weekend, a time to relax
the body and mind—which, of course, is necessary—with apparently little thought
of the deep significance of the events which Christians celebrate. This is
another reminder of a chasm in contemporary culture: the loss of the connection
between the feasts of the Christian calendar and the life of the traditionally
Christian nations.
In educational terms, this seems to be another
indicator of an increasingly illiberal individualism which tears people away
from what is held in common towards overly-personalised constructions of
values. Such an approach bears ‘fruit’ in the idolisation of choice—which is not
a bad thing per se—but runs the risk
of placing the individual against the community and hence reducing morality to
a menu of choices.
Authentic liberal education should foster
the ‘unity’ in the ‘unity-in-diversity’ which is one of the marks of a good
society. Of course this leads inevitably to debates on what constitutes the
bedrock of the sought-after unity. As we munch away contentedly at our Easter eggs and
traditional Easter cakes, this question should not be far from our mind.
Happy Easter.
