Whether homosexual teachers can work at an orthodox Protestant school in The Netherlands is regularly subject of societal debate. The Equal Treatment Law (1994) prohibits discrimination on the ground of homosexual orientation. How this works out in practice differs per denomination (type of school) and shifts over time in the direction of increasing acceptance. Within orthodox Protestant schools room is increasing to come out of the closet. Within certain schools there is increasing room for homosexual relationships, although opinions within these schools often differ and hence may also lead to conflict.

The worldwide ‘lockdown’ due to Covid-19 has had an accelerating effect on the ongoing discussion of Islamic burial in the Netherlands. Because of the closure of airspace Moroccan and Turkish-Dutch deceased could no longer be repatriated to be buried in their country of origin. This increased the pressure on cemeteries in the Netherlands to provide for the requirements and rituals of an Islamic burial. And this in turn showed the importance of the discussion that is already taking place in the House of Representatives about changes to the laws and regulations concerning burials. These three dimensions of Islamic burial in the Netherlands – personal, practical and legal – are discussed in this article.

Currently the Netherlands count 44 Hindu temples. Most of them are arranged in converted school buildings, shops and other edifices not meant to be used as a Hindu house of worship. In 2000 the first purpose-built Hindu temple was constructed, and after that date five other purpose-built prayer houses of Hindu background were built. This article analyses the interaction between the initiators and the representatives of the local governments in the process between the first plans and the ultimate result. It will become clear that the various municipalities acted differently in the implementation of the national and local regulations concerning building religious prayer houses. The people initiating the construction of these buildings also operated variously.

Unlike the common expectations, Islamic primary schools can contribute to the integration of Muslims in the Dutch society. This article is a reflection of Dr Beemsterboer’s doctoral research and asks what this conclusion can say about other religion based primary schools.

Islamic schools are often criticized for indoctrinating children, which would violate the goals of education in a democratic society. This article explores whether, as a matter of principle, parents could legitimately choose to send their child to a school where he or she will be indoctrinated, for example because they believe that at a religious schools the opportunities for a child to be stigmatized are smaller. Besides, the article investigates whether it is plausible that children in Islamic school in the Netherlands are indeed being indoctrinated.

This article aims to give insight in negotiations which took place from 1999 to 2002 between diverse Protestant parties in Belgium and which resulted in an enlargement of the recognized Protestant religion. This enlargement primarily served free Evangelical churches, as it allowed them to share in the benefits consequent to official recognition by the state. The article describes their strategic choices in view of full state recognition and highlights the active role played by the ‘neutral’ Belgian state in the negotiations that took place concerning this recognized religion.

In 2005 and 2006 three state-funded Islam- and imam training programs started at Amsterdam Free University, Leiden University and Hogeschool Inholland, after more than two decades of political and public debate. These confessional programs were to educate a Dutch ‘polder imam’. Recently however, the closure of two programs was announced.
This article places the establishment as well as the closure of these programs in a historical perspective. It explores two striking parallels between the motivations in favor of an imam training and the ways the Dutch state has dealt with the institutionalization of religious plurality in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.