The bill to clarify the order of citizenship education explicitly refers to the Constitution as the bearer of the basic values of the democratic constitutional state. However, the Constitution only concerns citizens in a vertical sense, in relation to the government. The Dutch Constitution says nothing about the relationship between citizens and is therefore unsuitable as a basis for citizenship in the broad sense of the word. Because the Constitution does not make these basic values explicit, the government would do well to remove the reference to the Constitution from the bill in line with the advice of the Onderwijsraad.

Terrorism can only be brought to an end if Islam and the Muslim community are enlisted as allies in combating it. Underlying militant jihadism is a violent interpretation of Islam which can best be challenged with the assistance of Islam and the Muslim community. Since the effects of the current state-led approach are questionable, while its criminal law component is close to exceeding the limits set by the rule of law and turns Muslims into a suspect community, it is important to test by way of a pilot whether an approach based on Islam can reap more promising results.

This article deals with recent developments in legislation and court rulings concerning churches. These developments are divergent in terms of the issues they concern and the outcome they show. The article sketches the background of each of these developments and analyses and explains them in the perspective of the principle of church autonomy. It concludes with recommendations to the legislature and the courts as well as churches themselves.