NETHERLANDS, the, Humanist Education in 567

NETHERLANDS, THE, HUMANIST EDUCATION IN.The Netherlands is one of the most secular societies inthe Western world. Half of the Dutch are atheists oragnostics (see NETHERLANDS, THE, UNBELIEF IN).Humanism is accepted constitutionally as an alternativeL1FESTANCEwith equal status to any of the theistic reli-gions, including the right to found state-funded humanistschools. The humanist movement in the Netherlands isone of the strongest in the world: 40 percent of all Dutchadults identify themsel yes as humanists, and 17 percentof all Dutch pupils attend humanist education (seebel ow) in pluralist (public) schools (see NETHERLANDS,THE,HUMA ISMIN).

The Dutch humanist movement has always been infavor of pluralist schools attended by pupils of differentlife stances. No religion is imposed upon others, andinformation about various life stances is taught as objec-tively as possible. Pluralist education is not value neu-tral, because it recognizes that values play an importantrole in daily life. Students are encouraged to givemeaning and shape to their lives in a nondogmatic andtolerant way.

Though the Dutch humanist movement was legallyable to found humanist schools, it chose not to do so outof concern that life stance-based schools might becomedogmatic and indoctrinate children in their parents' phi-losophy of life. From a humanist perspective, childrenare not the possession of their parents but only of thern-selves. This implies that parents and educators have toguide children in such a way that they are increasinglyempowered to create their own lifestyles. This humanright to self-determination is so fundamental that chil-dren should understand it at an early age. Humanistssupport this process by offering optional humanist edu-cation classes as an alternative to the similarly optionalreligious education classes already offered in a pluralistschool system.

The Dutch school system implements the separationof church and state, but does offer parents and childrenthe choice of optional humanist or religion educationduring set hours in pluralist schools. Humanist educatorsconduct humanist education classes under the jurisdic-tion of Dutch humanist organizations. Optional religiouseducation is taught under the jurisdiction of the variouschurches, mosques, and synagogues. All life stance edu-cation is supervised by school inspectors. Mandatoryeducation in factual knowledge on all important lifestances is the responsibility of the pluralist schools in theNetherlands. By this division of jurisdictions, the Dutchstate can guarantee the separation of church and stateand at the same time offer an opportunity to give lifestance-based education within constitutional limits tothose who want it.

In the past, many humanists assumed that education initself guaranteed the development of an ethically respon-sible world. Their assumption was that spreading knowl-edge was equivalent to spreading ethical awareness. In

568 NETHERLANDS, the, Humanist Education in

reality, wh at happened instead is that theocracy tended tobe replaced by technocracy. Democracy is more thanspreading information freely. It demands the concretetraining of individuals' capacity to give meaning andshape to life. In the battle between theocracy and tech-nocracy, humanists defend democracy. Ethical educationis therefore essential.

Science is a necessary but insufficient condition forhumanist education. Most Dutch humanist educators donot believe in the dogma of scientific and economie"progress" as a natural law, though this does not meanthat they oppose progress as such. While many Dutchhumanist educators would describe themselves as post-modern in their viewpoints, postmodernism is not mono-lithic. We must distinguish between at least two types:antimodernism and neomodernism. Antimodernismassumes that all science is bad; its clarion caU of "backto nature" means the elimination of human values asbasic principles. In contrast, neomodernism incorporatesnature without making it sacred, recognizing that we arefree and responsible to give meaning to our existence.Neomodernism embraces the best of the Renaissanceand Enlightenment (see ENLJGHTENMENT,UNBELJEFDURJNGTHE) with their humanistic traditions of self-determination.

In Dutch humanist education, the ideals of the Frenchand American revolutions play an important role.Freedom is not considered to be the absence of rules butrather the presence of self-deterrnination. Equality doesnot mean uniformity but rather equal access to humanrights by aU people. Solidarity is not imposed but ratherseen as the consequence of implementing self-determi-nation: the concept of enlightened self-interest. Freedomis frequently rnisinterpreted as the right to discriminateagainst others, whereas equality implies the right not tobe discriminated against. This dilemma can only besolved by a principle higher than freedom or equality.That higher principle is self-determination.

Self-deterrnination means the right to give meaningand shape to one's own life as long as others are not pro-hibited from exercising their own rights to self-determi-nation. More practical than the concepts of freedom andequality, the principle of self-deterrnination is able tosettle tensions among individuals and between minori-ties. It is very understandable why the Dutch peoplechose to incorporate this principle as the leading conceptguiding their constitution. The Netherlands has a longtradition of dealing with religious, ethnic, and otherminorities, and most Dutch are aware of the fact thatthey themselves belong to various minorities. When aUcitizens recognize their minority status and their need forrninority rights, they wiU become more sensitive indefending rninority rights for everyone el se so long asothers are not harmed. This awareness can help to guar-antee a true pluralist democracy.

This tolerant perspective has faced a new challengewith the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in the Nether-

lands. Should democracies be so tolerant as to allow intol-erant activities? Democracy is not the dictatorship of themajority, but the implementation of the right to self-deter-mination. Fundamentalist parties that seek to take overpower in order to end democracy should therefore not betolerated in demoeratic elections. But it is amistake tothink that all Muslims are fundamentalists. Most DutchMuslims are not; indeed, the Netherlands has a long liberalIslamic past in its former colony, Indonesia (see INDONESJAANDSOMEOTHERISLAMICCOUNTRJES,UNBELlEFIN). Byexcluding Islamic religious education from neutral publicschools, as in France, one creates a vacuum that funda-mentalists can easily exploit. By allowing optional Islamicreligious education under the same human rights-baseddemoeratic conditions in pluralist schools, we support theintegration of minorities in society.

We could speak of an integration paradox. Byexcluding religious education from neutral publicschools we create a vacuum that supports segregatingfundamentalist tendencies. By including religious educa-tion in public schools without making it optional, weviolate the rights of nonbelievers such as humanists. Byintegrating both religious and humanist education in anoptional way in pluralist schools we prevent both theo-eratic and technoeratic tendencies and strengthendemocracy. In fact, many pupils of Islamic backgroundmake a free choice for humanist education in Dutch plu-ralist schools. Comparing the Netherlands with NorthernIreland, Iraq, and the former Yugoslavia, one can under-stand the importance of life stance-pluralist educationfor human rights-based democracy.

The Dutch humanist movement implements theseprinciples in daily life in a practical and pragmatic way.Practical humanism assumes that people act according totheir own life stance based upon self-determination. Thetask of the humanist movement is not to attack religionsbut to create a positive alternative to theism. Humaniststry to guide people in such a way that they wiU be as freeand as responsible as possible. In the Netherlands about400 humanists are educating young people in humanistlife stance and life styles. Over 250 humanist profes-sionals are counseling people in hospitais, prisons, andthe army in finding solutions to their existential prob-lems. Some twenty journalists present humanist ideas tothe general public through humanist media, includingthe Humanist Broadcasting Company. More than tenprofessors are now employed fuU time in humaniststudies, taking responsibility for the training of humanistprofessionals in various uni versities all over the country.In addition, the state-funded University for Humanisticsin Utrecht has eight professors and more than three hun-dred students who are trained as humanist professionalsin counseling, education, research, and related fields.And the Journal lor Humanistics gives the necessaryprofessional information and guidance.

ROBTIELMAN