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One thing I was amazed to learn from the pdf Nomad linked was that in 2008, by self-reported belonging to a religious confession, Catholics waaay outnumber Protestants (being exactly half of all belonging to a confession). Was there no Catholic Scare in the Dutch Bible Belt, something paralleling the Muslim Scare?

On the other hand, another thing about the diagram in the diary is that even ten years ago, Catholics had the lowest attendance record. Which is funny, given that for Catholics, weekly church attendance is supposed to be a duty, unlike for Protestants. But, I suspect this only reflects a selection effect: in the process of secularisation, Catholics moving away from religion are less likely to cut formal ties with the Church. Hence, my question: do Catholics have some form of church tax or another form of dependence binding people to a centralised bureaucracy?

*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.

by DoDo on Fri Nov 6th, 2009 at 06:16:41 AM EST
There's no state-run tax similar to the one in Germany as far as I know. The Catholic attendence number is less surprising given that the Dutch Catholic Church doesn't really listen to Rome and the mainstream of Dutch Protestantism was on the other hand quite strict.

There was a Catholic scare periodically until the late 1960s, after that, broad secularisation set in and people stopped caring.

I have no idea how the Dutch bible belt feels. Presumably they're happy inside their own little bubble. Or, perhaps, many are miserable, but the leaders are happy.

by nanne (zwaerdenmaecker@gmail.com) on Fri Nov 6th, 2009 at 06:34:20 AM EST
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