Since – and even before – the start of the Cornelius Haga Lyceum (islamic secondary school in Amsterdam) in 2017, the school board has been involved in legal procedures against the government to fight for their right to exist as an islamic school. The difficult way the school was established, the illustrious history in the last ten years and the director’s retreat are described based on literature, media reports, and jurisprudence. The events are placed in the light of the pursuit from the government to fight radicalisation – may be even islamisation – in Dutch society and specially in Dutch schools. Special attention is paid to relevant themes of education law, like freedom of education in article 23 of the Dutch Constitution and citizeneducation.

The books by the French writer Alexis Tocqueville attracted great interest, also in the Netherlands, including Groen van Prinsterer and his friends. Groen frequently quotes from it, often with approval – for example about the vulnerability of democracy –, sometimes with critical commentary – about democracy as the fruit of revolutionary concepts, for example. This article contains the result of an investigation into intercourse of Groen with the works of Tocqueville. This research was carried out as part of the Tocqueville project of Prof. Sophie van Bijsterveld, professor of Law, Religion and Society at Radboud University in Nijmegen (https://www.ru.nl/tocqueville/).

In this article, we review our model for the study of conversions of 2016 and present some notable results of the past five years of research. During this time, we have observed a striking pattern, namely that the mode of participation in the old religion (mainly Islam) correlates with the keyword converts use to describe their new religion (mainly Christianity). We give four possible explanations out of the fields of hermeneutics, psychology, anthropology, and philosophy. Our main conclusion is that the model could be too focused on the general patterns of conversion and less on the specific words a convert uses to describe his or her own story.

Spiritual caregivers in the Netherlands are available in the military and in penitentiary institutions, in health care institutions and, recently, in the police. Within the military and the justice system, the spiritual care is traditionally characterised by a clear division of responsibilities between church and state. Due to domain specific developments in health care institutions and within the police, positions and responsibilities are less clear-cut. Developments such as the increased number of denominations that provide spiritual care tends to regard spiritual caregivers as ‘ordinary employees’. This article analyses the position of spiritual caregivers in the various domains and discusses current developments. It asserts that the church-state arrangement in the classic spiritual care areas requires respect and that the gist thereof should be taken into account in legal arrangements in the other domains.

This article analyses the legal position of Christian communities in the Roman Empire before the middle of third century CE. It will be argued that the treatment of this group, which has often been marked as unique by both public opinion and academic debate, can only be explained by placing Christianity within the broader societal and administrative framework of the Roman world. A comparison with the treatment of other contemporary religious groups is necessary for a better understanding of the underlying principles and mechanisms that collectively shaped the Roman authorities’ attitudes towards these religious communities.

What is a good governance approach to uncertainty or reflexivity? Reducing uncertainty is an important task of policy and governance, but it can also derail. That is why good governance includes holding space for uncertainty. A Christian worldview provides insights for a more relaxed handling of uncertainty. The notions of certitudo, improvisation and humility are then central. Together, they form building blocks for a post-secular perspective on governance in times of crisis.

The Court of Justice has ruled that the Flemish complete prohibition of the unstunned slaughter of animals according to religious laws is not contrary to EU law, notwithstanding the exception in Regulation1099/2009 and Article 10 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU (religious freedom). The Court used the concept of the interpretation of human rights in the light of present day conditions, not to extend the scope of the freedom concerned, but to restrict the religious freedom of Jews and Muslims. Religious rules that have existed for millenniums may give way to very recent views on animal welfare. This contribution is a critical appraisal of the judgment.