Religions and cultures are closely related. Multiple religions can therefore be an enrichment, because with those religions come more cultures. Yet public profession of faith leads to annoyances and sometimes worse. Therefore, the question is how religion can be expressed in the public domain. Tolerance of religions is hindered by one fact: almost every religion believes itself to be ‘the true’ and condemns other faiths. Protestantism in the Netherlands, at least in the way most Protestants practice their faith, is very tolerant: at a school like Melanchthon, understanding for other cultures and religions is cultivated. But does this also happen in schools where other religions predominate? Do other religions get a chance at those schools?
The public domain
This already puts us in the public domain: schools. In the Netherlands, religions can set up their own schools. According to the law, we must comply with the curriculum. As long as you attend a school of your own religion, you can show outward appearances of your faith without any problems. But the hot political issue is: are schools of other faiths allowed to ban those expressions? We are aware of the headscarf problem in Christian schools. So far the answer is yes, as long as the rule does not specifically concern the religious expression, but is a general rule. If boys are not allowed to wear caps, girls are not allowed to wear headscarves. The ruling therefore does NOT concern the expression of religion, but a general ban on wearing headgear.
All faiths have forms of expression: from the wearing of crosses by Catholics to yarmulkes by Jewish men. We are not looking at people who profess the faith professionally (nuns, priests, imams, etc.). The most ultimate form is of course the burqa, the wearing of which in public is now prohibited by law. This ban is again not based on religious grounds, but the danger to public safety. Your face must be recognizable, so you are not allowed to wear a full-face helmet unless you are on a motorcycle. If women wear the burqa at home, that is allowed. That in itself is strange, because the large majority in Western democracies believe that the burqa is the symbol of the oppression of women and such oppression is prohibited by law. Yet law enforcement in this country is very tolerant when religion is involved. But that’s another discussion.
Wearing crosses as necklaces or earrings generally poses few problems. Perhaps this is because crosses are no longer specifically linked to the Catholic faith, since artists such as Madonna started wearing them as a statement against the oppression of women. Why are people annoyed by other forms of expression such as yarmulkes and associated hairstyles of Jewish men, but also the long robes and beards of Muslim men, not to mention headscarves and covering clothing of Muslim women? When people dress like this, they clearly show that they are different. Just like, for example, gays at a gay parade. Quite a few Dutch people, and many other peoples in the west, simply don’t like that. Just look at people’s reaction when someone in a turban sits next to them on an airplane. Different appearance, different smells, it makes many people uncomfortable. Our culture is Christian and Western and although we are very tolerant about how people behave at home, many people do not want to be confronted with it in public.
Just look at the discussion about the imam who did not want to shake hands with a politician. It’s fine that he thinks that way in private, but in public it is clearly seen as disrespect: in the Netherlands you shake someone’s hand. T he imam might see it as a sign of respect not to shake her hand, but the average Dutch person sees it as an insult: you have to adapt to the culture of the country where you live. If you don’t do that, you are doing your own culture and religion no good, because people will be annoyed by you. After all, as a Westerner you are also expected to adapt when you move to a country with a different culture.
Officials in office
Another discussion is the wearing of religious expressions in positions such as the police and civil servant at a town hall. People want to feel that they are treated neutrally and equally. It is almost obvious that a Muslim does not feel that he is being treated fairly by someone wearing a yarmulke and conversely, that a Jew does not believe that he is being treated fairly by someone who clearly shows that he is a Muslim. That simply has to do with the deep-rooted mistrust between these religions. In other countries people kill each other! If you clearly adhere to a faith in such public positions, the question is whether you can really act as neutrally as the secular state expects of civil servants. As soon as people distrust each other, rightly or wrongly, it is not even relevant, then a civil servant can no longer perform his or her job.
Religious manifestations
When you go to Rome, as a tourist it is nice to see nuns, see the Swiss Guard at the Vatican and the ultimate bonus for Catholics is of course a seat in St. Peter’s Square when the Pope gives a speech. Culture and religion go hand in hand. Just as Muslims go on a pilgrimage to Mecca. But what to do with religious manifestations in countries of historically different religions?
The largest religious event in the Netherlands is the EO Youth Day. It is one of the largest Christian festivals in Europe, enormously successful among young people at a time when young people are going to church less and less. The aim was to introduce young people to the Christian faith through music, song and prayer. Conversion is no longer the main goal: many young people go there for the feeling of solidarity. You never hear anything negative about this festival, simply because they don’t bother anyone. It’s a kind of Christian pop concert. The point is that you should love your neighbor, just like Jesus did. The Christian faith today is not really violent. Don’t bother people, and no one will mind.
You don’t actually see manifestations of other faiths in this way. What you do have is public, noisy expressions. While most people are not bothered by church bells, which is par for the course, quite a few people find the noisy call to prayer from mosques annoying: not our culture, noise pollution, annoying. While certain religious groups, such as Jews, Hindus and the like, never make themselves heard, it does not help that people of Islamic background are often identified with violence and intolerance towards other religions. That doesn’t do public tolerance any good either. This group shows itself very negatively during demonstrations against Israel, for example: without passing judgment on what the Israelis are doing in the Gaza Strip, you simply cannot shout in this country: Hamas, Hamas, Jews on the gas! This is seen by many people as a horrific association with the Holocaust. Presumably the tolerance of those who should punish such discrimination is the reason for even more annoyance and intolerance from non-Muslims. Especially when you consider that high-ranking Nazis maintained warm relations with Islamic leaders because of their shared hatred of Jews. The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem (the highest Islamic leader in Palestine), Haj Amin al-Husseini, met Hitler personally in 1941, having already spoken in Cairo in 1937 with two senior Nazis: Eichmann and Hagen.
Resume
In summary, you can say that everyone in this country is allowed to practice their faith, but you should not flaunt it in a negative way. If appearances become a statement of being different and not wanting to be equal to others, these expressions can lead to intolerance, and ultimately even aggression. In a public position, neutrality is of great importance, so all civil servants must refrain from such appearances. The distrust between various faiths is too great; that gap will not simply be closed in a country like the Netherlands, as long as the same groups fight each other to the death in other countries. Peaceful demonstrations are fine, but hate speech and discrimination are prohibited and law enforcement should hold people to that.