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.

Buddhism has very specific ideas about an idealized form of government in Asia. These ideas may be ancient but they very often play a part in the background of politics up to modernity. Even within republics where religious monarchy has long since disappeared, a certain supernatural foundation on the basis of which a government functions may still be present. Opposition to a government can often imply resistance to a world order that is actually of supranatural origin. This article focuses on historical dimensions of this phenomenon (the position of the Buddha, the origin of the monarchy and Emperor Ashoka), but also on modern forms (Sri Lanka, Thailand and Myanmar). Concerning Myanmar, the recent developments around the Rohingyas are placed in a cultural perspective.

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.

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.

Some religious persons refuse to undergo certain medical treatments such as vaccinations or blood transfusions. They refuse treatment not only for themselves but for their children as well. Many fundamental rights may be at stake here: freedom of religion, the right to physical integrity and respect for family life on the one hand, and the duty of public authorities to provide for health care and defend children’s rights on the other. The main topic of this contribution is the extent to which the government is allowed to make certain treatments compulsory.

The Netherlands changed from a culturally homogenous society into a religiously plural society. This had an impact across public and denominational schools. The pluralisation of the pupil population raised the issue of the so-called pillarized educational system. In this contribution I explore this theme in the context of the freedom of education laid down in article 23 of the Dutch Constitution, and the right of every child to get acquainted with the diversity of its society’s traditions, and to position itself in the plural Dutch society. Moving beyond the pillarized system, all education can then become truly special, preparing children for normative citizenship.

In Europe, female circumcision has been considered a grave violation of human rights. However, many European countries fail to combat this illegal practice. This article answers the question why criminal law enforcement with regard to female circumcision seems to fail in various European states, with the exception of France. To answer this question, this article analyses various models of citizenship.

The Dutch policy of the ‘Participation Society’ intends to return many societal responsibilities to civil society. As religious organizations traditionally had undertaken that task, an increase in their participation is expected. However, the separation of state and religion often proves an obstacle. Also, there is quite some scepticism among religious organization regarding the role that a state should have in its caring duties. This contribution contains several insightful and critical articles on this subject: the introduction is by Gert-Jan Buitendijk, director-general with the Ministry of Interior, who is involved in the policy-making process of the Participation Society policy, followed by brief reflections by two scholars of religion and theology, and two representatives of the Islamic and Catholic communities. These contributions were the outcome of a lustrum symposium organized by the Journal for Religion, Law and Policy in november 2015, where academics, policy makers and representatives of religious organizations discussed the effects of the ‘Participation Society’ policies and laws in the Netherlands.

This article presents a summary of a report of the (mainline) Protestant Church in the Netherlands on democracy and the rule of law (see: www.protestantsekerk.nl/Lists/PKN-Bibliotheek/The-church-and-the-democratic-constitutional-state.pdf), including an evaluation. It starts from the presumption that modern plural society rightly expects religious communities to present their views in this regard explicitly and clearly. The report presents an interpretation of what ‘the separation of church and state’ entails, as well as an analysis of recent developments in the public domain. The church expresses its critical solidarity with the modern state. It points to the risk of democracy turning into a market rather than a forum.

Current developments and recent research findings reveal that the Netherlands have to cope with the existence of child marriages. In this article it will be examined whether the modifications that were introduced by the Dutch marriage law that entered into force at the end of 2015, can be expected to contribute to the improvement of issues on child marriages.

Some months after the German occupation of the Netherlands, the Reichskommissar inroduced a Germanlike system of collecting finances for the poor people, soon followd by an equal system of social work. These initiatives at the same time aimed at urge the national-socialistic ideology, as such dismissed by the society and the churches. The occupying authorities avoided a clash with the churches.

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.

Ryan van Eijk reacts on a previously in this periodical published article on prison chaplaincy in the Netherlands. This article argued that the growing religious individualisation as well as a political rethinking of the role of religions institutions ask for system adaptations and that the denominational approach is subject to discussion. Van Eijk criticizes this thesis and presents arguments and reasons why the current model is a good one. According to Van Eijk prison chaplaincy cannot and should not be organized only from the right of the detainee, for also aspects like the task of the government and denominational organizations and the detention context have to be considered.

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.

Spiritual assistance to people in an institute, was of old a task of churches and religious or philosophical communities. In the intramural health care more and more health care chaplains are working, the position of which is based only on an appointment of the management and not at the same time on a mission of a church or comparable community. This is experienced as a problem, because there is no supervision on the qualities of these health care chaplains. Therefore a committee recently proposed to establish a Council for Independent Spirituality, who tests the qualification and the competence of unattached health care chaplains and take care of their work.

The Dutch Social Support Act aims at a bigger role for the civil society in informal care. This appeal includes churches. In this article, the question is: do churches indeed want to participate more in social support? And what is subscribed to churches in the Social Support Act?
Formal documentation of all denominations formulate an active role of churches, both in society in general and more specifically in social support. In national legislation, the Social Support Act does not describe clearly what its expectations of churches are. This is partly so because the Law only gives a general frame for new policy, and local governments make their own policy based on their specific local situation. Local government show a wide variety of possible roles they expect from churches. These roles differ in some aspects from the roles churches describe themselves. Churches themselves do not clearly communicate to governments what they are willing and capable to do in the field of social support; maybe so because they do not realized yet how big the changes induced by the Social Support Act are.

Financial relationships between state, churches and religious organisations have existed for a long time in Dutch history. This could be understood from a general interest point of view in the nineteenth century and the social welfare state. However, that century and the welfare state do not exist anymore. Also society and people have changed. Do the financial relationships still exist nowadays and if so, to what extent and how should one assess these financial relationships? In order to deal with these questions, the article gives a comprehensive overview of the current situation of different financial relationships between state and religious organisations against a constitutional and historical background. It is argued that most of these relations are legitimate under certain conditions and that the constitutional framework of separation of church and state should not be overestimated in this field.

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 contemporary reform of the Dutch welfare state, civil society plays a prominent role in the solution of individual needs. This article investigates, from a normative point of view, the consequences for the churches as part of civil society. The outline of this policy is decentralization of welfare to local communities, saving of money, and a more active role of citizens in need to solve their problems alone. Then the normative framework is sketched with the help of the basic principles of Catholic Social Teaching (personality, subsidiarity, solidarity and common good), as well as ‘caritas’. The consequences for the churches are analyzed, first from the perspective of their participation in this legal and policy-framework. There is a great complementarity in theory and practice, but research shows that local governments are reluctant in cooperating with churches, which have to be careful that their own identity will be instrumentalized. Second, the consequences are analyzed for the core business of churches: it appears that the government wants to have an insight in the processes of giving meaning to life of individuals to give the help (financially), efficiently and effectively, according to the policy goals. Thus, although the government wants to appeal to civil society and calls upon the churches explicitly, the paradoxical consequence will be that the free expression of religion will be limited in the functioning of the future welfare state.