The decision of the Court that Muslims from the Greek province of West Thrace can choose in matters of family law between civil or Islamic law, is not surprising. However, much can be said about the way in which the Court came to that conclusion. Because in doing so it uses principles and considerations that show a lack of insight in the status and functioning of a unique legal system, namely that of interpersonal law, or the coexistence on equal basis of several family laws. Similarly, the Court seems biased towards Islamic family law, which it consistently refers to as ‘sharia’. A critical discussion of this judgment is therefore appropriate.

Invoking the fundamental social right to assistance does not prevent the CRvB from also applying the traditional fundamental right to freedom of religion. This approach is in line with the current case-law of the ECHR. This also applies to the more subjective explanation of religion used by the CRvB. This can be justified by the doctrine of interpretative restraint and the importance of self-definition. In the light of these principles, it is unclear why the CRvB makes a distinction in the level of protection of different religious expressions when weighing up interests in the context of article 9 ECHR

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.

The Nashville declaration, which espouses an orthodox Biblical view on sexuality, caused considerable public upheaval upon the publication of its Dutch translation, early 2019. This contribution investigates the declaration and the discussion it engendered from a point of view of political and legal philosophy, addressing the typically modern preoccupation with the relation between identity, subjectivity, and sexuality. This modern self-perception is unravelled from a philosophical perspective derived from Hegel and Foucault. Some conclusions are drawn regarding the paradoxical nature of both the Nashville declaration and the discussion it occasioned.

The article examines and explains the relation of current Eastern Orthodox Theology to the concept of Human Rights. Putting the controversies into a larger historical and theological context, it seeks to highlight the conditions of a variety of Orthodox theological positions. Such positions, with their common features and strong differences, concern issues such as church and state, universalism or theological anthropology and human dignity. Considerations end with arguing, that much of the treasures of the Orthodox tradition still needs to be unearthed – to the benefit of Human Rights, and of all participants in current debates worldwide.

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.

Extremism is a phenomenon that bothers various EU member states. It is difficult to define, and difficult to study. In this contribution we look at extremism from the perspective of the Dialogical Self Theory (DST). This theory is well-known in personality psychology. Recently is has got a development that could make it relevant for understanding, predicting and preventing extremism. The issue at stake is the relation between diversity, dialogue and democracy.

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 Dutch approach of religious matters is still characterized by an approach that fits in the 19th century, not in the 21st. This approach considers religion as a private matter without taking into account the cultural dimension of religion. Such an approach is not keeping the pace of the development of religion in a post-secular world and it loses sight of the modern debate on religion elsewhere in Europe. In particular it tends to ignore the cultural value of Christianity by pointing at the deconfessionalization. The article focuses on the role the Christian narrative has in making visible the issue of power.

As a special employer, the church has an interest in shaping its own personnel policy in order to achieve the mission and objective. In part, the legislator has met this need. After all, various laws in the field of appointment, terms of employment and dismissal take account of the specific interests of the church as described before. The external border consists of fundamental human rights that are included in the ECHR and the European Directive on equal treatment. It is not always clear where the external border is exactly. The Dutch legislation regarding the battle of ‘church law’ and fundamental rights is not consistent. Moreover, there we notice a tension between national law and the European directive.

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.