Tolerance of the Dutch PDF Print E-mail
Written by Ber van de Rijdt   
What our society tolerates is continuously revised as is anything in life. The Dutch are proud of their tolerance and their freedom of expression. Already in the 17th century Holland was well known for the religious freedom that existed nowhere else in Europe. This was the reason that so many Jews - such as the famous filosopher Spinoza - came to Amsterdam where a large Jewish district came to be. Other refugees came from many regions and countries after getting into problems because of their ideas. These freedoms were self evident to the religious Dutch. They had fought themselves for their ideas and they understood deviant opinions.
Our country is still known for a tolerant policy on drugs and a flexible policy on asylum as well as the capacity for peaceful deliberation. Since the beginning of this century a renewed call for values and standards causes changes in the general climate of tolerance as we've known it for very long.