Contribution to special issue on “Possibilities for Covenantal Pluralism in the West”

The Review of Faith & International Affairs has just published a special issue on “Possibilities for Covenantal Pluralism in the West.”

The issue contains articles on the United States, England, Canada, Australia, France, Denmark, and Italy, as well as an analysis of “Religious Freedom and Religious Equality in Western Democracies, 1990-2023.”

Authors include Robert J. Joustra, Renae Barker, Joceline Cesari, Pasquale Annicchino, and Jonathan Fox.

I wrote the contribution on the Netherlands, entitled “The Netherlands at the Crossroads: On the Need for a Covenantal Comeback for Principled Pluralism.”

The abstract of the contribution, which has been published in Open Access, reads as follows:

“Principled pluralism, which overlaps to a significant extent with the concept of covenantal pluralism, is not what it used to be in the Netherlands. The country finds itself at a crossroads regarding church-state relations specifically and religion-society relations more generally. While principled pluralism in the Netherlands broadly reflected the first enabling condition of covenantal pluralism (religious freedom and equal treatment) it has been less effective regarding the other two enabling conditions (religious literacy, and practical virtues of multi-faith engagement). Today there appears to be no real alternative for reinvigorating principled pluralism but by a movement for covenantal pluralism. This article proposes two adjustments to further guarantee the future-proofing of principled pluralism: halting uncontrolled immigration and enhancing integration efforts. These address a key weakness of principled pluralism—its limited defense against views and actions incompatible with the democratic rule of law.”

“The Review of Faith & International Affairsis a quarterly journal dedicated to providing analysis and commentary regarding the role of religion – for good or ill – in global affairs. The Review of Faith & International Affairsbrings together many of today’s most innovative and distinguished thinkers, making their research and commentaries available not just to specialists but to a wider audience of globally concerned readers.”

My special thanks go to Dennis R. Hoover, D.Phil., Editor-in-Chief of The Review of Faith & International Affairs, for his very helpful comments on earlier versions of my contribution, particularly on the similarities and differences between covenantal and principled pluralism.

The article was completed before the most recent Dutch parliamentary elections. For an analysis of those elections, see: “A blessing in disguise? On the Dutch election results.”