Religion in The Netherlands
As an American student and tourist in The Netherlands, I have noticed that The Netherlands does not seem to have many churches– if fact I personally have not seen any non-historical churches in Sloterdijk, Amsterdam, Haarlem, or Rotterdam. I had heard before coming to Amsterdam, that The Netherlands is not a particularly religious country, and I simply thought of it as a relief, not questioning why the country is not so heavily faith based. To me, it seemed like it would feel like a breath of fresh air to be in a country that is so different in terms of faith from the United States.
Being born and raised in Northern Virginia, it has been a common occurrence to see contemporary, beautiful, and flashy churches as well as smaller ones all around not only my county, but the entire state. With the amount of denominations, and the emphasis on religion in the United States, seen through simple everyday ‘rituals’ like the Pledge of Allegiance and items like American currency, religion became a normal part of my life without ever personally practicing it. Even going to school in a ‘blue’ district/county I frequently encountered religious extremists outside of my High School, protesting the abortion clinic down the street. It had become second nature to just deal with religion and accept it as a part of my life as an American, but when coming to The Netherlands I realized how much more free I felt living in a place where religion does not loom over everything in the culture.
‘Living’ in The Netherlands for about two weeks now, I have noticed how there are hardly any small communal churches around. I have seen many historical churches that still operate and practice on Sundays, but when comparing it to my environment in the states, I wanted to understand why. I had remembered when reading the Three Novellas by Nescio, that the characters he wrote all had a strange relationship with God, it was not necessarily clear if the characters denounced God, but disappointment and apprehension surrounding the idea of God was clear. Through the book this was mostly due to living in poverty and struggling economically in general, as well as almost having to give up dreams and a part of personal identity in order to make money and have a ‘decent’ life. He presented God as a bit of a ridiculing tormenter rather than an all powerful, all loving God that is usually presented. This is especially interesting when seeing how this was written through the time period of World War I. This is around the time that secularization was becoming more and more popular, and eventually led to the shift in attitude towards religion after World War II.
When looking at the religious history of The Netherlands, it is important to recognize that the country was mostly Christian Protestant due to gaining its freedom from the Spanish Catholic king in the 1600s. However, the general idea was freedom to choose and freedom to practice, so the general freedom had emphasis more on choice rather than religion. Additionally, the Dutch actively practiced religious tolerance and made peace by coexisting with all people which was amplified during World War II. This connects to the idea of secularism becoming more popular in The Netherlands, and the practice of religion declining in general. The major catalyst for this downward trend seems to be World War II. After suffering from Nazi Germany occupation and watching the atrocities committed, it seemed that overall faith in humanity and God was questioned by the Dutch people. The philosophy that God could not be both all-powerful and all-merciful seemed to be a theme for the Dutch as they were forced to live under such dangerous circumstances. This is theorized as the potential peak time where people questioned religion, and may be why the lack of organized religion has led to the nation’s attitude about it today.
Today, more than half of The Netherlands does not identify with a particular religion. A majority of the Dutch people are irreligious or agnostic, making it the first country of its kind. Many Dutch people only attend church for major life events like weddings or funerals, and the emphasis on organized religion is lacking because the Dutch are not worried about God the way that most of the Western world is. Life, to the Dutch, must be lived in a way that is important to the individual and allows each person to find meaning for their own life. Not being defined or directed by a certain set of rules, and not being pressured by entire groups/organizations has allowed the Dutch to think and live for themselves.
Organized religion is an incredibly interesting topic, and seeing the stark contrast between the United States and The Netherlands has been incredibly eye opening, especially due to the recent Supreme Court rulings in the United States, that are prioritizing religion over discrimination. It has been a relief to come to a nation that has the power and confidence to not fall into a ‘mob-mentality’ and create their own lives based off of their own reality. Whether a Dutch person is religious or not, the idea of general respect and acceptance is evident in comparison to discrimination. Of course, this is not meant to ignore the religious extremists in every nation, however The Netherlands seems to keep biases in check and allows its citizens to be generally happy– something that is not so often the case in other nations.
