NTT Journal for Theology and the Study of Religion - Volume 76, Issue 3, 2022

This article explores the possible relationship between religion and the COVID-19 vaccination coverage in the Netherlands by addressing the following research questions: (1) to what extent is religious affiliation a factor in the COVID-19 vaccination coverage in the Netherlands? and (2) to what extent has this possible effect of religious affiliation changed over time? Our analyses reveal a strong and persistent effect of the proportion of orthodox Protestants per municipality on the vaccination coverage per municipality and no such effect for the proportion of Catholics. Furthermore, the analysis also reveals a similar effect for the proportion of Muslims, but this effect disappears when controlled for the proportion of non-Western migrants.

This article provides a new framework for the history of religious objections to vaccination in the Netherlands. In public opinion and scholarly literature, these are often associated with the contemporary group of conservative Reformed people or inhabitants of the Dutch Bible Belt and projected back onto the past in a static way. In early modern times, however, reluctance to perform any preventive medical act on the human body was embedded in a general perception of the divine governance of daily life. During the eighteenth century, the innovation of inoculation was gradually accepted by medical and theological specialists, replacing providentialism by supernaturalism. In the nineteenth century, under the influence of orthodox Protestant opinion leaders, spiritual hesitation and anti-science feelings took the form of conscious religious choices and decided positions on personal freedom, especially in education. In the twentieth century, the movement against the vaccination policy of the national state became entangled with political and social mobilisation and theological legitimisation. The COVID-19 crisis reconfirmed the mix of religious and other objections. The reinterpretation of these developments bears on the direction and content of further cultural-historical research.

Muslim tradition has given significant attention to plagues and pandemics based on scriptural texts and theological-ethical norms. Yet, the outbreak of COVID-19 evoked varied reactions among Muslims due to enormous innovations in healthcare and media coverage. COVID-19 vaccination strategies demonstrate how Dutch Muslim attitudes are influenced by factors beyond Islamic theology of pandemics. Other reasons may be behind the unwillingness of some Muslims to vaccinate. These could be traced to certain readings and (mis)interpretations of relevant theological texts, shared cultural schemas among like-minded people, fear of vaccination, lack of clarity, online misinformation, language barriers and political mistrust in local authorities and global health measures. These conclusions are backed up by fieldwork research among Dutch Muslim detainees as an example of what might be called a “local vaccination culture.” It demonstrates that the vaccination decisions are pragmatic and less religiously informed. However, the role imams, religious leaders and representative organs play in this process should not be underestimated. As counter-narratives of antivaccinations arguments, theological incentives have a significant impact on Muslim attitudes towards restrictive measures and vaccination policies.

As part of NTT JTSR’s series on Key Texts, this article discusses Max Weber’s famous essay The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. In this essay Weber argues that certain religious developments in the West resulted in a specific, ascetic work ethic which, in turn, stimulated the rise of a capitalist economy. The present article summarizes Weber’s line of reasoning in relative detail and briefly explains why Weber’s essay is still of interest today. As regards the enduring relevancy of Weber’s essay, it is mentioned that his essay can be seen as a precursor of contemporary secularization theory, that it addresses the timely issue of the relationship between religion and social stratification and that it clarifies the motivational aspects of religious beliefs on the basis of an action-theoretical approach to religion.