When we consider a ‘court’ a judicial institution recognized by the state that renders judgment based on law recognized by the state, then the only ‘sharia courts’ to be found in Europe are located in the eastern province of Greece. Their jurisdiction is limited to Islamic family law, but a recent case before the European Court of Human Rights has rekindled the discussion on the scope of this jurisdiction, and opened the discussion on the desirability of such courts in a European country. This article presents an analysis of this discussion, based on literature study and fieldwork in the region.

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.

In the 19th century in many Western states, the close relationship between Church and State came to an end and the Roman Catholic Church developed into a major and active player on social and educational level in society separate from the State.
This was due, on the one hand, to the constitutional changes in the Western states from the end of the 18th century, which led to the gradual introduction of the formal principle of separation of Church and State. On the other hand, it was a result of the search for a new position of the Roman Catholic Church in society that also influenced the theological reflection of the Church on society.
The ecclesiastical reflection on the ideal relationship between Church and State took shape in the course of this process in the Ius Publicum Ecclesiasticum. The ecclesiastical view on the relationship between believers/citizens, society and State simultaneously took shape in Catholic social doctrine, which today still offers a model for modern society. In Catholic social doctrine, the believer/citizen is the connecting element between Church and State in a secular society. The ‘state doctrine’ of the Catholic Church is presented in Catholic social doctrine as an ideal image of the democratic constitutional state in which man is central and forms the central link between Church, society and secular State.

According to the Coalition Agreement 2017-2021, the Dutch government intends to develop policy to prevent religious communities from receiving support from abroad if this support comes from so-called ‘unfree countries’. In the article, the author argues that restrictive measures in this area touch upon the collective freedom of religion, which is protected by the ECHR, measures that can only be justified under strict conditions in the light of religious freedom as guaranteed in article 9 ECHR.

The Flemish Christian Democratic Party was founded in 1945. In its so-called ‘Kerstprogramma’ (‘Christmas Program’), the ‘Christelijke Volkspartij’ (Christian People’s Party, CVP) cut ties with the explicitly religious character of its direct predecessor, the Catholic Bloc. Nevertheless, the party remains to find its inspiration in Christianity. This article will discuss non-exhaustively how Christian values still remain an important guideline to the Christian democratic discourse of CD&V, based on three pillars rooted in Christianity: trust, love of one’s neighbour and respect for human dignity.

The future of catholic migrant communities in the Netherlands depends on the broader social trends and their impact on religious communities. Four trends are discussed in this paper: general secularization that affects especially the mainline churches, enlargement of scale of organization that diminishes the parish commitment of members, the bricolage of religious behavior that implies that believers make choices about their commitment to one or more religious traditions, and finally the general debates about religion in post-secular society. These trends provide threats and opportunities to migrant communities, but also pose these for dilemmas.

The first national research into church formation among Roman Catholic migrants in the Netherlands dates from the year 2006. Since then many changes took place within these communities. However, there is not a single institution that collects their addresses and data. Policymakers, scholars or journalists do not have access to recent information. Based on questions about their development and composition, this article updates information about these church communities and places them in a broader historical context. One of the most significant findings in this article concerns the stability of their regular parishioners, that contrasts with the national trend in Roman Catholic Church, which is constantly dealing with a declining amount of members.

Politics and law are not in essence about knowledge, good sense and learning, but about wisdom. Good legislation requires wisdom and the wise judge is also the ideal when it comes to good adjudication. But what is wisdom actually and who is the sage? To answer these questions, this article departs from the views of the Stoa (of Seneca especially) which has been of fundamental significance for the development of law and which still continues to influence it. It shows how the philosophical views of the Stoics included an objective view of law and cultivated a subjective impassibility and apathy that were associated with steadfastness or constancy. Stoic wisdom was (and still is): virtuous obedience to the objective laws of nature. In modern Stoics like Spinoza and Justus Lipsius we find these same elements. But in modern times Stoicism is wrapped in the veil of a Christian vision of life, which (as such) serves as a seductive legitimation of its principles. In this guise Stoicism has been of enormous significance in the history of Christianity. However, their historical relationship is based on a major misunderstanding. In fact, Stoicism is Christianity’s most extreme alternative, as Erasmus already pointed out. For the Stoic sage a theoretical and practical wisdom applies that is not (in any way) in accordance with the courageous foolishness of Christianity. It is through the prism of this foolishness that we come to appreciate that the eternal Stoic attitude is odious when it comes to law and politics. Stoicism is a recurring crisis phenomenon: a cultural sickness, for which the wisdom of Christianity still offers a very effective medicine.

On 20 December 2017, the Court of Justice of the EU ruled that an extrajudicial unilateral divorce brought about in Syria does not come within the substantive scope of the European regulation on the law applicable to divorces (Rome III Regulation). In response to this decision, the inequality between men and women in the divorce law of Muslim countries, the developments that are going on in this area, as well as the role the non-discrimination-principle plays in the recognition policies in European states on Islamic repudiations, are discussed in this contribution.

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.

A medical doctor in The Netherlands is not punishable under the law for assisting in a patient’s self-chosen death as long as (s)he has fulfilled the conditions of the Euthanasia Law of 2002. This law regards patients with unbearable and hopeless suffering who request an end to their life. This article will regard euthanasia from the perspective of Roman Catholic church law: if a Catholic doctor in The Netherlands ends the life of a patient in conformity with the Euthanasia Law, could this nevertheless be considered a crime of manslaughter as stipulated in Canon 1397 of the Code of Canon Law (1983)? And is that doctor then punishable under that law? It will be demonstrated that this is not the case, because the church law does not regard a crime similar to euthanasia under Dutch law, even though the killing of an innocent person is considered a sin. Against the background of the logic in church law, this article will make a comparison with the crime of abortion as stipulated in Canon 1398 of the ecclesiastical Code. It will be demonstrated that manslaughter and abortion share a different but illuminating history and topicality.

The question central to this article is whether ‘Islam’ and human rights are compatible and, if not, whether there might be room to come to a minimum standard of human rights that can be shared globally. This article will demonstrate that, from the perspective of Islamic orthodoxy, principles that are fundamental to human rights, like equality and freedom of religion, pose unsurmountable problems, and the adjustment of these principles is theologically nearly impossible. However, a growing number of Muslim intellectuals holds the opposite view, using new theological methods to argue that these Islamic principles and human rights are compatible. Although they are warmly welcomed by human rights lawyers and activists, their methods are not uncontroversial, and they are still very small in number.

The article is a plea to reconsider the new impetus that the second Vatican council in the catholic church has brought about, and to give it shape in the ecclesiastical administration of the catholic church. After a period of strong renewal this movement seems to be evaporated in the Netherlands, whereas this council and the code of 1983 have a lot of opportunities to offer. On the basis of a number of concrete examples of administrative reforms that Pope Francis and some of the newly appointed bishops have realized, the author offers some concrete proposals.

This article analyses the relation between Islam, politics and citizenship. It analyses three currents within Islam: Salafism, Islamism, and modernism. The central argument is that most modern Islamic currents do not have a concept of politics as an independent ‘field’ where compromises can be made concerning societal problems. The only current that provide the space for a pluriform, open political debate is Islamic modernism. Through its humanism and the centrality of the common good and not the text, modernism embraces not only the concept of politics as free space but also the concept of active citizenship.

In this article, the author criticizes a variety of views on the Christian identity of Europe in current discussions on migration. Next, he presents his own view on Christian identity, which consists of belief in a God who becomes present in the brokenness of the life of all. Applied to the issue of migration, this leads to a view of identity which develops in the encounter with migration. Then, the author defends the universal message of the Christian faith, and shows how this messages is violated as long as the suffering of migrants lasts. Thus, he holds a plea for a divine order over against the supposed order of christian identity.

This article investigates the role of ‘implicit religion’ in extremism, including those forms that do not explicitly call upon formal religion. Extremist quasi-religious narratives expose an exclusionary logic, which is mirrored by radical ways of thinking about counter-extremism. This unfailingly leads to more polarization. Extremism can only be countered by radical openness. Resilient democracy requires that citizens, politicians and professionals are willing and able to maintain open hearts and minds. Implicit religion can support this. Spiritual counselors and scientists of religion need to support the creation of spiritual narratives and rituals that strengthen democratic resilience.