Research On Religion » The Netherlands

Chris Soper on the Challenge of Religious Pluralism

tonygill — Sun, 09 Apr 2017 08:00:20 +0000

How do various democratic nations manage increasing religious pluralism around the world? Prof. Christopher Soper, a distinguished political scientist at Pepperdine University, answers this question and talks about the third edition of his book The Challenge of Pluralism, co-authored with Kevin den Dulk and the late Stephen Monsma. After Chris provides a few reflections on the scholarly influence of Prof. Monsma, we discuss how a third edition of this popular text suggested itself with a changing religious environment in many Western democracies, most notably the increase in Muslim populations in Europe. Prof. Soper notes that the impetus for the book back in 1997 was to answer three questions that remain more relevant than ever: 1) How much religiously-motived behavior that is contrary to societal welfare and norms can a democratic polity allow?; 2) To what extent should the state promote consensual religious beliefs in order to promote a shared set of values and virtues that are fundamental to limited democratic governance?; and 3) When religious groups and government agencies are active in the same fields of work, how can a society ensure that the state does not advantage one religious group (or secular belief system) over another? Chris then reviews the three models of church-state relations that he and his co-authors detail in the book: 1) the separationist model as exemplified by the United States and France; 2) the establishment model that includes England and Germany; and 3) the pluralist model in both its “pragmatic” (Australia) and “principled” variants (the Netherlands). He explains the dimensions of each model, noting that there is variation within each category. For example, while both the US and France are considered separationist, the historical trajectories of each country conditioned a more aggressive separationist position in France. For much of the second half of the interview, we walk through examples of these models with Chris giving background on each of the cases. Prof. Soper argues the case that the pluralist model is best at recognizing the importance of religion in the public square while still allowing space for secular claims. Our discussion also centers around how each of the states are meeting and accommodating increased religious pluralism, most notably with respect to the growing presence of Islam. With Islam being a much more decentralized faith tradition than the typical European Christian denominations, it has been difficult to absorb this religion into historical church-state models, particularly those of the establishment variant, but efforts have been made to do this. We finish our podcast with Chris giving his opinion about the viability of a Christian Democratic party in the United States (revisiting a question from an earlier podcast), and reflecting on what he has learned over two decades and three editions of his book. Recorded: March 28,2017.

The Challenge of Pluralism: Church and State in Six Democracies, by J. Christopher Soper, Kevin den Dulk, and Stephen Monsma.

Muslims and the State in Britain, France, and Germany, by Joel Fetzer and J. Christopher Soper.

Confucianism, Democracy, and Human Rights in Taiwan, by Joel Fetzer and J. Christopher Soper.

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Joel Fetzer on Confucianism and Democracy.

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Evan Haefeli on the Dutch Origins of Religious Tolerance.

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Does American Need a Christian Democratic Party?

Evan Haefeli on the Dutch Origins of Religious Tolerance

tonygill — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 08:00:26 +0000

The story of rise of religious liberty in the United States generally revolves around the influence of English persons and events (e.g., Roger Williams, the Act of Toleration). However, a lesser known piece of the puzzle is the role that the Dutch played in promoting religious toleration back in The Netherlands, as well as their colonial possessions for a significant portion of the 17th century. Dr. Evan Haefeli, an associate professor of history of Columbia University, explains the critical and nuanced role that the good folks from the Low Countries played in shaping the political-religious landscape that emerged in 18th century America.

Our conversation begins with Tony’s general ignorance (as usual) of what “The Netherlands” are. Understanding the historical emergence of this disparate territory, and the important role that the long-standing revolt against Spanish Habspurg rule played, is critical to the emergence of religious toleration. Evan notes that The Netherlands are a mixture of different ethnicities and religious groups that are largely unified against a common adversary. It is important to realize that it was not only Protestants, namely Reformed Calvinists and Lutherans, that were revolting from Spanish hegemony, but a number of Catholics were instrumental in Dutch independence.

Prof. Haefeli then lays out the interesting tension that characterizes Dutch religious tolerance. Rather than being full bore religious liberty encoded in law, he uses the term “connivance” to describe the de facto system of “looking the other way” when it comes to religious differences. The term “connivance,” while signifying something malevolent in the English language, has a much different connotation in the Low Countries, where it is viewed as “looking through one’s fingers and ignoring some messy details.” The Reformed (Calvinist) Church in Holland and a few other territories of the Low Countries wanted to assert itself as the “public church” that everyone should belong to, but so long as non-Calvinists practied their faith in a non-public and “out of sight” manner, those groups would largely be left alone. Although there was religious tension that did manifest itself in violence at times, Catholics, Jews, and other Protestants were largely left to their own means so long as they were not a nuisance. Evan does note that some of the more aggressive harassment came against Lutherans, who the Calvinists thought should have been Reformed since they were so theologically close. This indicates that religious tension may not always be between two distinct theologies, but rather ones that only have minor differences.

We then cross the Atlantic and examine the Dutch foothold in the Americas during the 17th century. To Tony’s surprise, the territory held by the Netherlands was much more vast than what is usually discussed, namely the island of Manhattan; it extened up the Hudson River into the lower portions of New England. However, unlike the English who were primarily interested in settlement, the Dutch were more concerned with trade and, as such, their physical presence was much more sparse and centered around some key trading outposts. The disparate nature of Dutch colonialism (which also included significant portions of modern day Brazil and Africa) led to overextension and their eventual ousting by the English (after a bit of territorial give-and-take). Evan discusses how the notion of a “public church” combined with “connivance” (i.e., looking the other way) that was typical of the homeland was transferred over to the colonies. We also cover a short-lived attempt at radical tolerance in the colonial outpost of New Amstel, which was cut short by the British ousting the Dutch from the territory.

We conclude our discussion with a few observations about what this all means for our contemporary notions of religious liberty in the United States. Evan makes the claim that had the Dutch not been ousted from America in the late 1600s, our religious liberty regime might look significantly different with a greater role for a “public church” and with liberty taking on the guise of toleration rather than a solid set of rights. He also discusses some of his general take-aways for our contemporary understanding of religious liberty. Recorded: March 14, 2014.

RELATED LINKS

Evan Haefeli’s bio at Columbia University’s Department of History.

New Netherland and the Dutch Origins of American Religious Liberty, by Evan Haefeli.

Captors and Captives: The 1704 French and Indian Raid on Deerfield, by Evan Haefeli.

The Political Origins of Religious Liberty, your host’s book that was implicitly mentioned in the podcast.

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Tracy McKenzie on the First Thanksgiving.

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Russ Roberts and Anthony Gill on Religion and Religious Liberty.

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Robert Woodberry on Missionaries and Democracy

tonygill — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 08:00:38 +0000

Did Protestant missionaries help plant the seeds of democracy throughout the world? We take up that question with Prof. Robert Woodberry, associate professor of political science at the National Univesity of Singapore, whose recent article “The Missionary Roots of Liberal Democracy” in the American Political Science Review is reinvigorating interest in the link between religion and political outcomes around the world and throughout history. Our conversation begins with an examination of the standard theories for why democracy has emerged in some places but not in others. Prof. Woodberry carefully indicates that democracy is more than just elections, but includes respect for civil liberties and the rule of law. Our conversation tuns to the role religion plays in the promotion of liberal democracy and how Bob became interested in this topic. He mentions that one of his dissertation advisors, Ken Bollen, had noticed an interesting historical correlation between Protestantism and democracy back in the 1970s, but most other scholars simply ignored that observation. It was left to Bob to pick up the torch and run with it, a task he was well-suited for given his family’s history in missionizing. Tony then asks Bob why he thinks scholars have so frequently overlooked the “religious factor” in the study of democratization, and Prof. Woodberry then provides some interesting speculations that click well with previous discussions we have had with other guests on our podcast. Prof. Woodberry then spells out his thesis, arguing that “conversionary Protestants” — Protestants interested in fulfilling the task of The Great Commission (Matthew 28: 16-20) be it in post-Reformation Europe or elsewhere — have a strong interest in convincing individuals to make a free choice to accept Jesus as their savior. In doing so, these Protestants encourage literacy, which in turn incentivizes the creation of mass printing. The voluntarism inherent in these Protestant churches also foments the development of skills associated with civic organization, which become the basis for the vibrant civil society needed to challenge autocratic rulers. Tony notes that this finding is consistent with other sociological research finding that church attenders are more likely to be involved in non-church civic organizations than their secular counterparts. Tony also encourages scholars studying “new social movements” to look at “old social movements” (i.e., churches) because they have been collectively organizing for centuries, if not millenia. Finally, Bob also notes that conversionary Protestants were strong advocates for religious liberty, which often corresponded with respect for other civil liberties such as the right to assemble and speak one’s mind. This led many of these Protestants to also speak out against the more severe abuses of colonialism such as slavery. All of this then prompts non-religious organizations to follow the lead of these Protestant groups so as to not be outdone in the competition for the hearts and minds of the general population. It is at this point where Tony gets a chance to plug his first book which connects well with Prof. Woodberry’s findings. We look at why the Catholic Church did not proceed along a similar path until very recently, and why civilizations such as Imperial China did not allow for the expansion of printing and literacy despite having invented movable typeset printing long before Europe. We conclude our discussion with Bob’s thought on the Arab Spring. Recorded: June 12, 2012.

RELATED LINKS

Robert Woodberry’s bio at Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion.

“The Missionary Roots of Liberal Democracy” by Robert Woodberry in The American Political Science Review (requires purchase or subscription).

“The Pioneering Protestants” by Robert Woodberry and Timothy Shah in The Journal of Democracy (requires purchase or subscription).

Rendering Unto Caesar: The Catholic Church and the State in Latin America, by Anthony Gill (host of Research on Religion)

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Thomas Kidd on the Pilgrims

tonygill — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 09:00:15 +0000

Just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday, Prof. Thomas Kidd (Baylor University) returns to our podcast series to cover the hsitory of a group of religious dissenters known as the Pilgrims. After Tony attempts to recite a rather famous poem about the Pilgrims, we explore the roots of this group dating back to the English Reformation and how dissent within the Church of England in the 16th century set a group of individuals from Scrooby, England on a journey that would eventually land them on Plymouth Rock. We follow the Pilgrims to the Netherlands and talk about their experiences there and discuss the reasons why they were able to obtain a charter for settlement in the North American colonies of Britain. Prof. Kidd details the importance of the Mayflower Compact and what life was like for settlers in a new land, including a tangential discussion on the importance of beer to the Puritans. (You will want to hear how brewing was beneficial to the Puritans and why the Puritans were not as prudish as one might think.) We finish our podcast with Prof. Kidd’s thoughts on the legacy of the Pilgrims for American development and a brief history of the holiday we have come to know as Thanksgiving. This podcast serves as a great introduction or review of the Pilgrims for high schoolers and homeschoolers and we encourage you to bring it to the attention of all those who might be interested. Prof. Kidd is associate professor of history at Baylor University, senior fellow at Baylor’s Institute for Studies of Religion, and co director of Baylor’s Program on Historical Studies of Religion. Recorded: October 5, 2010.

RELATED LINKS

Prof. Thomas Kidd’s website.

Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion and Program on Historical Studies of Religion.

The Great Awakening: The Roots of Evangelical Christianity in Colonial America by Thomas Kidd.

God of Liberty: A Religious History of the American Revolution by Thomas Kidd.

The Protestant Interest: New England after Puritanism by Thomas Kidd.

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