Shore – Christmas, Monty Python and Shore
He (Jesus) was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made…The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
John 1:2-3, 14
Dear Students, Parents and Carers
Most will be aware of the iconic film Monty Python’s Life of Brian, set in the Middle East some two thousand years ago when much of it was under the rule of the Roman Empire. The revolutionary band who want to evict the occupying Romans are hostile to their rule. The leader asserts “but apart from the sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, fresh water system and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?” Indeed, the Romans brought many of the benefits of civilization as it then was.
Why mention this? There are some in our community who may wish to distil the essence of Christmas away from its Christian roots. What, after all, has Christian faith ever done for us? The answer is that it has provided the fundamentals of our Western culture. Many, particularly the young, are not aware of this. As a society, we are at risk of a deep myopia or amnesia about the past.
I am a student of culture and ideas, as I believe all Heads of Schools should be. I am a voracious reader in the field (without much time to read recently!). Here are some vignettes from writers who, with one exception, do not claim to be Christian: Larry Siedentop in Inventing the Individual. The Origins of Western Liberalism claims (p 292) that the emphasis on Christian liberty emerging from faith is the foundation of our individual freedom protected by law. He argues that “Christianity changed the ground of human identity” (p 352). Tom Holland in Dominion. The Making of the Western Mind argues that “to live in a western country is to live in a society still utterly saturated by Christian concepts and assumptions…The West, increasingly empty though the pews may be, remains firmly moored to its Christian past” (p XXV). Charles Taylor in A Secular Age outlines what he calls the gradual disenchantment (the removal of all things metaphysical) in our civilization and quotes the novelist Evelyn Waugh: “it is no longer possible…to accept the benefits of civilization and at the same time deny the supernatural basis on which it rests” (p 734). Rodney Stark, amongst his various works, particularly The Triumph of Christianity, continuously makes the same assertion. These scholars are variously historians, a philosopher and a sociologist.
All of this makes the point that Shore’s Anglican heritage is important and worthy of attention, particularly in a Christian focal season such as Christmas. From my training in English, History and Politics, it seems to me that it is simply not possible to understand the world in which we live without understanding the impact of Christian faith. Ironically, much that we hold dear and seminal, such as the importance of scientific enquiry, have actually emerged from Christian faith.
My experience is that most parents desire Christian values of love, tolerance, kindness, generosity and peaceableness. If these are the fruit and flowers of Christian faith, we should not think they will survive for long if we sever them from the roots of fundamental Christian teaching. The claims are audacious, stupendous: “He (Jesus) was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made….The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” (John 1:2-3, 14). Ideas, including intellectual currents, are worth examining and we certainly hope our boys will do so as their minds mature. In the contested world of ideas, we want them to be active thinkers, and we want them to treat with respect those whose ideas differ from theirs.
Christmas then is, one hopes, a time to pause and give thought beyond the tinsel, giving and receiving of gifts, hearty eating and family. Happy Christmas to all, have a good holiday and a refreshing New Year break.
A personal note to end, my wife Kate and I have been immensely grateful for the lovely welcome we have received from our School Community, Parents, Students, Staff, the OBU, SPA, the Foundation and other School supporters. It is an honour to serve in this wonderful community and I look forward to connecting with you all again in the New Year as your ninth Headmaster.
Dr J Collier
Headmaster