The evening of thursday, 17 September, I was privileged to spend time with the good people of the Wetenschapelijk Instituut – ChristenUnie (WI – CU), or the Scientific Institute – ChristenUnie. This is the think tank connected with the ChristenUnie political party, which currently holds three seats in the Tweede Kamer and has been part of three governing coalitions. This was less a lecture than an interview conducted by Jasper Knecht on the subject of Burgerschap zonder illusies, or Citizenship Without Illusions, my latest book.
Prior to the evening event, and shortly after supper, I met also with Marcel Koning, pastor of Mozaiek33, a large church congregation located just outside of Amersfoort, and a municipal councillor for ChristenUnie in Amersfoort. Koning will be writing a column on our conversation for Groen, the periodical of WI – CU. Here we are in one of the offices:
The evening event brought together another good-size audience as Knecht asked me a series of questions based on my most recent book. (One person who had attended the previous evening's lecture in Utrecht even attended this second event in Amersfoort.) As a board member for the Center for Public Justice, it occurred to me that ChristenUnie's vision is quite close to that of CPJ, and I felt an intuitive affinity for the people with whom I was talking. The major difference, of course, is that, while CPJ is deliberately nonpartisan, ChristenUnie is definitely a political party, and one that has participated in three coalition governments. Accordingly, the sorts of questions I was asked, both by Koning and by Knecht, had to do with the status of an openly Christian political party in a confessionally mixed coalition. To what extent ought ChristenUnie to tone down its principles for the sake of co-operation with the other parties and to what extent should it maintain and proclaim those principles within the coalition? Other questions had to do with how one balances such goods as compassionate openness to newcomers and the recognition of limits to every community. Weighing such goods in the balance is a necessary component of public justice, but no one says that the results of so doing will be easy or will necessarily elicit everyone's support.
I found these questions stretching, because they forced me to think about the responsibilities of Christian citizens in a context quite different from that of Canada and North America in general.
These photographs are taken from ChristenUnie's Linkedin profile:
After this event I was driven back to my hotel in Nijkerk, ready for the following day's events.
Incidentally, I openly wondered to my hosts whether Dutch translations of my books would ever be considered. The answer I received was that those likely to show interest in my books already know the English language. Indeed the level of English fluency amongst the Dutch is impressive. I spoke in English at the various events organized for me, and I could be completely confident of being understood by my several audiences.
Next: Nederland 2026, 9: CHE and De Nieuwe Wereld
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