Canceling Easter
There’s no doubt that the so-called “woke” march toward cultural domination suffered a setback after the 2024 presidential election. But any suggestion of a major vibe shift may be premature. In England, an elementary school decided to cancel its Easter celebrations in the name of “diversity and inclusion,” reminding us of the enduring institutional strength of this ideology.
Instead of Easter, the school opted to commemorate “Refugee Week,” a gesture meant to celebrate inclusivity. But to position these two events in opposition—to replace one with the other—only deepens social divisions and stokes identitarian resentments. One might reasonably wonder whether such decisions are still naive missteps or have taken on a more deliberate, ideological character.
It was only last summer when violent riots erupted across the country after Axel Rudakubana stabbed three girls to death in Southport. Though his immigration status was disputed, the violence that followed—targeting migrants and culminating in the burning of a hotel housing asylum seekers—was unjustifiable. But it also signaled a rupture in the social contract. Many Britons feel that decisions shaping their cultural and communal life are now made without their consent, by a political elite increasingly insulated from the world they govern. In the absence of shared norms or a coherent narrative of belonging, legitimacy frays—and with it, the bonds that hold a society together. The philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre once warned that, without shared traditions, moral debate collapses into a battle of preferences. The violence in Southport didn’t emerge in a vacuum—it surfaced amid a society that no longer agrees on what the good life looks like, or who gets to define it.
