On Doing What is Just, Right and Fair:Essay on a Dutch Example

The 1848 Constitution of the Netherlands guaranteed civic freedoms within the frame of liberalism. In practice, this meant that the public sphere was not open to orthodox Protestants or Catholics. Abraham Kuyper changed this situation by accepting wholeheartedly the liberal maxim of the separation of church and state, but he rejected the exclusion of religion from the public sphere. He succeeded in changing the political climate and opened up a public sphere that was plural in nature, not open just for liberals, but for every citizen, whatever religion or worldview he had. This public regime w... Mehr ...