When I was a small child in the UK, rationing was still in force. Bread, meat, butter, potatoes were all rationed. In spite of that, at Christmas, we always seemed to have enough to eat and my parents managed to buy presents. My memory of my early childhood Christmases is not one of today’s excesses that don’t seem to particularly satisfy anyone, but of warm, cheerful (well, apart from my aunt Ada) family gatherings. I didn’t know it then, of course, but my parents made the necessary sacrifices to create a merry Christmas.
From the BBC:
[flv:https://www.anglicansamizdat.net/wordpress/videos/Christmas1947.flv 760 440]
Archive footage shows how British people experienced the run up to Christmas in 1947, one of the toughest of the post-War ‘Austerity’ years.
Bread became rationed, joining other staple items like meat, butter and potatoes, and queues in shops were common.
Sterling was also experiencing a currency crisis, resulting from the UK’s post-War debt to America.
Contrast that with Rowan Williams’ Christmas meanderings in which he bemoans the plight of today’s poor – who are actually considerably more wealthy than even the moderately well-off in the late 40s.
‘No government in its right mind wants poverty. One positive thing about aspects of the current spending review is a clear intention to put things in place that will actually reduce poverty and help people out of the traps of dependency.
‘But also we need to beware of the real temptation to take it for granted that if people still suffer, even after reforms undertaken with good intentions, then somehow it is their fault.
‘Life at the grass roots is always going to be less black and white, and it isn’t surprising if a lot of people, already insecure, start feeling even more insecure. At the very least, there’s a job of communication to do.
‘Hard-working and honest people who do their best really do face problems; so do people with disabilities, with mental health issues or limited mobility.
‘There are doubtless some who make the most out of the benefits culture (just as there are some who have made the most out of other kinds of perks available to bankers or MPs).Dr Williams returned to the theme in his Christmas Day sermon in Canterbury Cathedral, in which he said society would stick together in hard financial times only if people felt the burden was being shared.
‘That confidence isn’t in huge supply, given the crises of trust that have shaken us in the past couple of years and the sense that the most prosperous have yet to shoulder their load.’
It’s hard not to come to the conclusion that what really irks Rowan Williams is the fact that the government is not redistributing wealth more vigorously. Unfortunately at Christmas, just as at any other time, if a person cannot be content with what he has, he won’t be content no matter how many free Xboxes are showered upon him. It’s a shame that rather than point that out, Rowan chose to preach leftist politics instead. He also could have said a few words about the relatively significant Incarnation event.
Dear David:
I think your comments may be unfair. AS I understand it, there are three times Archbishop Williams has spoken or written recently..a BBC interview a month ago, a Christmas Day sermon, and a Boxing Day writing in the Mail newspaper. So, exactly what Archbishop Williams preached on Christmas Day isn’t clear at all, at least from the source you put a link to.
In England, there is a Conservative Government, and it is making government cutbacks to programs.
I read something Archbishop Williams supposedly wrote this Christmas time that I thought was well written and intelligent. It started with a bizarre incident when, back in October, he was asked to bless some ingredients being prepared to make Christmas fruit cakes. This was in India, if I remember correctly.
Archbishop Williams then went on to write very intelligently about the Incarnation.I read this in a church bulletin here in Vancouver.
I respect Williams, because he seems able to acknowledge both sides in a dispute. He can intellectually acknowledge Chirstian Liberals, as well as Christian Conservatives. So, I believe he is an apporpriate Archbishop for this present time of crisis in the Anglican Communion.
In general, I enjoy reading your blog, and criticizing the idiocy of Liberal Bishops, especially Liberal Canadian Bishops. But, in this instance, with Archbishop Williams, are you being fair?
David K, Vancouver, B.C.
Yes, Rowan did talk about the Incarnation in his Christmas sermon.
I’m not so sure his determination to straddle the fence between conservative and liberal views of Christianity is beneficial, though. For example, I think Canterbury’s non-recognition of ACNA/ANiC did ANiC a lot of damage in the recent court case: it allowed he judges to say that the ACoC is the only recognised Anglican Church in Canada and, therefore, it determines what Anglican doctrine is in Canada.
Melanie Phillips wasn’t very impressed by Rowan’s remarks either; see here.
Thanks for your reply. And thanks for the link to the Archbishop’s Christmas sermom. Won’t read it now, but later.
Yes, the bloody court case. Of course, a secular court can’t decide this issue (or issues). There is a theological controversy going on. In the early Church, only a council of Bishops, deliberating carefully, could propose, or determine, what orthodox doctrine is. Of course, at the bottom of this issue, is the question of leadership and authority.
I don’t want to write a long response, or get into a debate, though you seem to be an intelligent person whom it might be worth debating. Best wishes for now, Dave K, Vancouver.