Bible belt (Netherlands)
The Bible belt ( Dutch Bijbelgordel ) in the Netherlands is a name for certain areas in the Netherlands in which a relatively large number of devout followers of Reformed churches live. These are also (pejoratively) referred to as belonging to the "Black stocking churches".
The Bible Belt runs from the Zeeland islands (and the South Dutch island of Goeree-Overflakkee ) over the polders of the provinces of Zuid-Holland , Utrecht , Gelderland and partly Noord-Brabant ( Werkendam and Wijk en Aalburg ) to the Veluwe and then mainly in a north-westerly direction to Overijssel . Places such as Staphorst , Genemuiden , Nieuw-Lekkerland , Elspeet , Opheusden , Kesteren , Barneveld , Ederveen , Ouddorp , Tholen , Arnemuiden , Meliskerke , Aagtkerke , Yerseke and Krabbendijke are located in the middle of this area. Places that are outside the biblical belt, but where many strictly Reformed churchgoers live, are Urk , Rijssen and Katwijk aan Zee .
Most of the social life of these people takes place among themselves. You meet mainly in church, school, club and also at work. The proportion of voters in the small Christian parties SGP and ChristenUnie is significantly higher in the Bible belt than in the rest of the country.
The biblical belt goes back to supporters of a piety movement in the 17th century, the so-called Nearer Reformation .
The name is from the English phrase Bible Belt derived, which is a large area in the southeast of the United States referred, in which the evangelical Protestantism is an integral part of the culture.
Reformed denomination
Strictly Reformed Christians can be found in Zeeland , Zuid-Holland, the Veluwe , the Betuwe and Overijssel. They are characterized by a strong sense of togetherness within their church community. The church plays a central role in everyday life. Churchgoers attend two services on Sundays. Sometimes several thousand believers come together. Numerous church activities on various topics also take place during the week.
The strictly reformed church associations include:
- the Reformed Churches
- the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands
- the old reformed communities in the Netherlands
- the conservative congregations in the Protestant Church in the Netherlands
- the Restored Reformed Church
- the conservative congregations in the Christian Reformed Churches
It is estimated that between 300,000 and 500,000 Dutch people, i.e. between 2 and 3% of the population, are members of one of these communities.
In addition to churches, schools also play an important role in creating identity within the congregations. Hundreds of primary schools are run by strictly reformed Dutch people. In addition to primary schools, there are also reformed secondary schools. These schools are located in, among others, Apeldoorn , Kampen , Amersfoort , Barneveld , Gouda , Gorinchem , Rotterdam and Goes . It also has its own university, Driestar College in Gouda, and a large vocational high school, Hoornbeeck College. There are also many Protestant Christian schools on a Reformed basis. These elementary and secondary schools are often attended by strictly Reformed students.
Politically, the Strictly Reformed have organized themselves in the SGP . They also have their own national newspaper, the Reformatorisch Dagblad, with 59,000 subscribers.
In the meantime, various (popular) scientific studies on this population group have appeared. A well-known example is an investigation by the liberal-minded twentieth pastor Anne van der Meiden. Many Strictly Reformed people hold important positions in society, administration and politics.
Vaccination and health insurance
The Bible belt has the lowest percentage of vaccinated children in the country. The RIVM estimates that around 30% of the Strictly Reformed are not vaccinated.
There is no compulsory vaccination in the Netherlands . While most parents have themselves and their children vaccinated, some followers of strict Reformed churches reject this as an interference with divine providence. In 1978 there were over 100 polio cases in Veluwe (especially in the villages of Elspeet, Nunspeet , Uddel and Staphorst ) . All those affected were not vaccinated for religious reasons (“God brings over me what he has decided for me”).
Due to the local accumulation of vaccine opponents, there is a risk of epidemic foci. During the last major polio outbreak in 1992, which mainly took place in the Bible Belt, all residents there were called on to get (re) vaccinated. There are also regular, large measles epidemics (1976, 1988, 1999 and 2013/14). In contrast to the permanent presence of the measles virus, whereby almost every child gets measles and is immune, adults also become infected during these epidemics and serious complications arise because they were not infected in previous epidemics.
Some of the devout residents of the Bible Belt voluntarily forego health insurance and instead rely on the solidarity of their community in the event of illness.
literature
- Dik Linthout: Netherlands. A country portrait. 7th, updated edition. Berlin Links 2012, from p. 109.
Web links
- Vaccination level in the Netherlands 2010 (RIVM) (Dutch; PDF; 5.0 MB)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Bartosz Lisowski et al .: Outbreaks of the measles in the Dutch Bible Belt and in other places - New prospects for a 1000 year old virus . In: Biosystems . tape 177 , March 1, 2019, p. 16–23 , doi : 10.1016 / j.biosystems.2019.01.003 .
- ^ Daniel Lingenhöhl: Vaccination: Why measles again and again afflict the Bible belt. In: Spektrum.de . January 25, 2019, accessed April 2, 2020 .
- ↑ Kerstin Schweighöfer: Reportage Deutschlandfunk: GESICHTER EUROPAS / ARCHIV / Contribution from December 20, 2008 God's fear behind the dike. The Orthodox Calvinists in the Netherlands.