Religion
Calvinism became the theological system of the majority in the Netherlands during the Dutch Revolt in the Eighty Years War. Other religions were tolerated, but could not practice their religion in public.
The Netherlands today is one of the most secular countries in Europe. An estimated 49.6% of the population (2007) call themselves non-religious. The remaining are 27% Roman Catholic, 15.7% Protestant and 5.3% Muslim (data CBS 2005, 2007). In former ages, Protestantism used to be the largest religion in the Netherlands, but there has always been a high percentage of Roman Catholics, who were strongly predominating in the southern provinces, but also considerably present in the northern ones. However, over the past century the older Protestant churches have been in decline. Islam has begun to gain a foothold and mosques are being built. The Netherlands is also home to a significant Hindu minority, mostly made up of migrants who came from former colony Suriname after its independence. There is also a small group of Jews (40,000) living in The Netherlands, most of them are settled in Amsterdam.
Read more about this topic: Culture Of The Netherlands
Famous quotes containing the word religion:
“The only human beings I have thoroughly admired and respected in the world have been those who carried the load of the world with a smile, and who, in the face of anxieties that would have knocked me clean out, never showed a tremor. Such men and women end by owning us, soul and body, and our allegiance can never be shaken. We are only too glad to be owned. Religion is nothing but this.”
—Henry Brooks Adams (1838–1918)
“As soon as a religion comes to dominate, it has as its opponents all those who would have been its earliest disciples.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“When I read of the vain discussions of the present day about the Virgin Birth and other old dogmas which belong to the past, I feel how great the need is still of a real interest in the religion which builds up character, teaches brotherly love, and opens up to the seeker such a world of usefulness and the beauty of holiness.”
—Olympia Brown (1835–1900)