%0 Journal Article %A van Koningsveld, P.S. %T Toegepaste vergelijkende godsdienstwetenschap in het voortgezet onderwijs: Contouren van een cursus ter versterking van sociale cohesie en burgerschap %D 2007 %J NTT Journal for Theology and the Study of Religion, %V 61 %N 4 %P 281-290 %@ 2590-3268 %R https://doi.org/10.5117/NTT2007.61.281.KONI %I Amsterdam University Press, %X The author argues that there are at present three good reasons to introduce education about religions and philosophies of life as a compulsory subject in all European secondary schools: (1) the growing complexity of religions and life philosophies in European societies; (2) the weakening role of traditional religious institutions in the transmission of religious knowledge to the next generations; (3) the growing number of social conflicts thought to be related to religious issues. In the view of the author, the educational programme should consist of three parts, with specific application of each of these parts to the religious history of the Netherlands. Part 1 would have to deal with the historical separation between State and Religion and the origin of the prevailing constitutional principles concerning religions and philosophies of life. Part 2 would deal with the origin of the Netherlands as a Protestant State and with the the social and political emancipation of Catholicism and Judaism in the history of the Netherlands. Part 3 would focus on the history of philosophies of life and religions in the Netherlands after the Second World War, and especially with Islam. At the end of his article, the author criticizes the lack of knowledge and understanding of Islam, prevailing in important Dutch text books used at secondary schools. %U https://www.aup-online.com/content/journals/10.5117/NTT2007.61.281.KONI