Recently there’s a lot of debate within the Netherlands about the criminality of assistance by someone who’s not a doctor towards the death of a loved one. In the Heringa lawsuit a son has helped his (step)mother who wished to no longer live (considered her life to be ‘completed’) to die at an age of 99. The helper non-doctor risks criminal pursuit and punishment. The central argument of the lobby to establish a more humane approach towards the persevered need is personal autonomy. This article aims to clarify the debate and to stimulate another way of thinking towards the situation of, mostly, elderly who want to decide and act independently regarding their death.

This article sketches the relationship between the churches and the State since the end of the reign of the Stadtholders (1795). The decision of the Batavian Republic to recognize independence and equal rights of each church (1796) appears to be effective not before the midst of the 19th century, under influence of liberal policy. It opened the way to co-operation between church and state, aimed at a democratic society. The churches should not be reluctant in implementing their freedom to act as free partners in the social debate.

Calvinist politicians have traditionally rejected the principle of people’s sovereignty as contrary to God’s sovereignty. However, over time, the majority of these politicians have used the term democracy, which basically means the same, although there has always been a minority seeking a theocracy or a Christian government. Nowadays, Christian politics will not pursue a Christian state, but it pleads for the right to religious liberty in which it finds the key to thinking about human rights and the rule of law.