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.

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.

The bill to clarify the order of citizenship education explicitly refers to the Constitution as the bearer of the basic values of the democratic constitutional state. However, the Constitution only concerns citizens in a vertical sense, in relation to the government. The Dutch Constitution says nothing about the relationship between citizens and is therefore unsuitable as a basis for citizenship in the broad sense of the word. Because the Constitution does not make these basic values explicit, the government would do well to remove the reference to the Constitution from the bill in line with the advice of the Onderwijsraad.

Terrorism can only be brought to an end if Islam and the Muslim community are enlisted as allies in combating it. Underlying militant jihadism is a violent interpretation of Islam which can best be challenged with the assistance of Islam and the Muslim community. Since the effects of the current state-led approach are questionable, while its criminal law component is close to exceeding the limits set by the rule of law and turns Muslims into a suspect community, it is important to test by way of a pilot whether an approach based on Islam can reap more promising results.

The proposed Act on Citizenship Education requires fundamental reflection from several angles. The article provides a perspective from remarks describing the current age and a possible list of values for a democratic state. Important is also the perspective from educational freedom, on which topic several publications from the Onderwijsraad were issued in December 2019. The proposed Act (with the different versions of its explanation by the Minister) are critically evaluated and confronted with an alternative proposal.

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.

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 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.

Recently the Dutch parliament passed a law that provides the subsidy for religious and humanist education in state schools. The law on primary education gives to the parents the right to ask for it. Religious education in state schools exists in the Netherlands since the beginning of the 19th century, optional and taught by representatives of the church. So it is appropriate for the state school which wish to be a school for everyone. And public funding is appropriate in the Dutch education system.

This contribution discusses two forms in which spiritual care in the Netherlands can be organized: in terms of a (church) office which reflects the current form, or as liberal profession which is a form to be conceivably pursued as an alternative proper to the sociocultural and institutional developments that this text indicates. The historical Dutch context of pillarization is tributary to a form of spiritual care that seems less apt to deal with the challenges ahead. The conditions and requirements of a liberal model are presented, but also put into perspective of the limited opportunities of the professional association of spiritual care to manoeuvre in politics and policies.

The Netherlands has a unique educational system, based on freedom of education, that provides for public and denominational education both financed on equal terms by the state. Only schools belonging to formally recognized denominations are qualified for public finance. School education is one of the few policy fields in The Netherlands where a formal recognition of faith actually occurs.
A denomination is qualified for recognition when four formal conditions are met: (1) it is a fundamental orientation well founded on a specific faith or philosophy of life, (2) that is apparently entrenched in Dutch society, (3) distinguishable from other recognized denominations, and (4) implemented in the bye-laws that must safeguard the religious or philosophical character of the school. In the Roman Catholic denomination only the bishop is competent to recognize a school as Roman Catholic. This system is now under discussion in the political arena, where two alternatives are presented: extension as opposed to abolition of the concept of denomination. The present article concludes that denominational school education is rooted in the concept of civil society and argues the extension of the concept of denomination to include also pedagogical visions. But also in its extended application a connection with a shared contemplation of man should be put first and foremost.

The chaplaincy in penitentiary institutions shows a peculiar co-operation between the state and the religious communities. The chaplains provide a safe opportunity for supporting the detainees. The growing religious individualisation as well as a political rethinking of the role of religions institutions ask for system adaptations. In particular, the denominational approach is subject to discussion.

In the Netherlands today secularisation essentially amounts to the declining influence of church life and to religious individualization. The churches remain important as a source and inspiration for social engagement. The precarious position of the mainline churches raises concern about the erosion of bridging social capital: the social relationships between people who differ in many respects.