Tilburg University Tilburg Research 2011 vol 8 no 1

tilburg research

Tilburg University PO BOX 90153 5000 LE Tilburg The Netherlands Phone +31 (0)13 466 91 11 www.tilburguniversity.edu

tilburg research

research magazine

Zingeving in de 21e eeuw

Het ondraaglijke dragen • Digitaal Emmaus • Een economie van schuld • Voorbij het kerkgebouw • Jongeren vinden hun weg • De morele bedrading van robots

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Preface In the 1960s, traditional religion in Western culture entered a period of very rapid change. However, it was not only religion that entered a new era, but also the rituals associated with it and our culture as a whole.

Society was confronted with the questions of who we are and what we stand for, both inside and outside the church.

The theologians, religious scientists and cultural scientists of Tilburg University have changed along with society and repositioned their fields of research. The renewal of Christian identity and the contemporary dynamic of religions and rituals are now top of the agenda. But sociologists, psychologists, economists and legal academics are also asking questions about existential meaning and new values to inform their pro-

fession. How can we usher in a sustainable economy?

How should we ensure that healthcare retains a human dimension? How do we arrive at meaningful and democratic means of management in a network community?

This themed edition of Tilburg Research shows how our researchers in all scientific disciplines are rooted in society and engaged in the search for answers to profound questions of existential meaning, and how this regularly involves transgressing the boundaries of those disciplines. That is precisely what Tilburg University stands for.

Prof. Philip Eijlander Rector Tilburg University

Tilburg Research Tilburg Research is a magazine for special-interest groups about research at Tilburg University in the Netherlands. Tilburg University specializes in the social sciences and humanities.

Stay in touch with Tilburg University’s research on issues in society at www.tilburguniversity.edu/topic.

Colophon Publisher Marketing & Communications, Tilburg University Editor Corine Schouten Editing board Tineke Bennema, Lenie van de Brug, Clemens van Diek, Machteld Geuskens, Leon Heuts, Reggy Peters, Corine Schouten, Diahann van van de Vijver Contributing editors Tineke Bennema, Marion de Boo, Irene Herbers, Meike Oosterwijk, Corine Schouten, Anton de Wit, Marga van Zundert Photo editors Corine Schouten, Diahann van van de Vijver Photography Ton Toemen Photography Translation Taalcentrum- VU Amsterdam

Layout and graphic design Beelenkamp Ontwerpers, Tilburg Printer Prismaprint

FSC logo

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PHOTOGRAPHY IN THIS ISSUE The 21st century quest for meaning takes a myriad of shapes and forms. Tilburg photographer Ton Toemen captured people in the midst of ritual in many places.

The resulting series of pictures can be found throughout this issue. Cover Photo: 21 March 2011, Petroesjka Splint, witch in Swolgen, the Netherlands

FEATURES

2 Religion today: bearing the unbearable 5 Introduction: Who are we and what do

we stand for?

10 There is no such thing as the calculating citizen 14 ‘If young people need a sermon, they’ll download it themselves’ 18 An economy of debt as opposed to an economy of abundance 22 ‘The assignment of meaning is often disregarded’ 25 The more hopeless the situation, the more powerful the resources people find

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The moral wiring of robots

24 ‘The government needs to have more contact with religious communities’ Every music has its heaven 30 Prayer course provides support for psychiatric patients Caring for others in Judaism, Christianity and Islam The first Christian polemics against Islam COLUMNS

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Digital Emmaus

RESEARCH PORTRAITS

8 In our culture people are generally not very attentive

NEWS & PUBLICATIONS

7 Bovenberg’s equilibrium Beyond the church building

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20 Light and silence: new symbols in rituals Religion influences corporate social responsibility

Betting on God

9 Ageing in terms of meaning and purpose in finite time The growing need for public commemoration through monuments

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Making sense with money

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Washing people’s feet is also a ritual

Each cultural and religious tradition adds a layer

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Religion today: bearing the unbearable What do religion and life orientation mean to people today? And how can people live now that science has taken the magic out of reality?

Philosopher Herman de Regt and theologian Erik Borgman cross swords.

Erik Borgman: “This is the problem: we know that religion and spirituality now have a completely different place in people’s lives – but we don’t know what that place is. For a long time researchers didn’t want to know: they embraced the classical secularization theory and simply recorded whether people went to church or not or believed in traditional church-based religion.

Moreover, new forms of religion are generally not institutionalized, and for some sociologists that means they simply don’t exist.

There are no categories for this kind of religion, it has to do with perception and even the people in question don’t have words for it – that’s the problem of what we call ‘somethingism’. We have very little idea of what exactly is going on with people in this respect and how it should be interpreted. Is

‘Recent academic research into the psyche of human beings shows us that secularization will never take place’ the craving for spirituality really a form of secularization, but do people not want to admit that to themselves? Or is it a return to religion in a different form? It’s very difficult to say.”

Herman de Regt: “You would expect secularization to continue, because we are learning more and more about the world. But recent academic research into the psyche of human beings shows us that secularization will never take place. People continue to

have religious beliefs. The nature of human beings is such that you can’t avoid having religious ideas or feelings, unless you train yourself very rigorously.

Within your own life you can take current scientific knowledge about the world to heart, and say: if there is a God, I can’t imagine what that God would be like. But from the big bang until today we have not been able to find anything that makes it plausible that there is a God. Of course that is very difficult to accept and it demands training in thinking. In every generation countless new people will be born who develop religious concepts.

Why are those concepts so persistent? Because they are the result of millions of years of evolution. They are a natural phenomenon, which doesn’t necessarily indicate a religious

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‘Religious concepts are very useful illusions’ reality. They are in the same category as the fact that the sun looks bigger on the horizon. You know the sun doesn’t change in size, but you can’t help seeing it that way. Religious concepts have that status: they are very useful illusions which have developed through millions of years of evolution to help us on our way through the world. They are often – though not always – helpful illusions.”

Borgman: “That is one way of looking at it, and it’s quite an interesting one. But I don’t believe there is just one explanation. Ultimately religion is about things that science can only touch on to a limited extent.

Religion is primarily about issues

into things in life which cannot be captured within the framework of what you can comprehend, but which you cannot ignore. And with the experience that you are always somewhere already, before you’ve decided where you want to be and where you want to go. And also the idea that the place where you find yourself has something to do with your task in life. This element is what you might call the ‘attribution of meaning’ although I don’t like that term because it implies that first there is something and that you then attribute meaning to that something. That is not the case at all. You try to find your bearings in life, and you discover that you haven’t invented yourself.

Then the question arises: where

‘Somethingism is a religion which is unable to express itself properly’ of orientation. What should I focus on? I can’t wait until I know everything before making a decision. You need a different kind of knowledge and points of reference, and that is the level at which religion operates.”

De Regt: “But then what do you mean by religion?”

Borgman: “That’s a complicated question, and there’s no simple answer to it. Religion has to do with the experience that you run

did I come from? Not so much as a question about origin, but more: how can I comprehend that I am who I am, and not someone else?”

De Regt: “Of course these are important questions. But why would you look for religious answers to such questions?”

Borgman: “You don’t necessarily have to. But the reason why people do is because ultimately they have the experience that

what you are and what you have to do cannot be comprehended with the rationality of science or technology. There is no definitive answer to resolve those questions.”

De Regt: “But now there does seem to be a way to resolve those questions. At least, for people like you and me who are wellinformed and well-educated.

Thanks to science there is a way of answering those questions, or of understanding that they are illusory.”

Borgman: “My point is that that question will always come back.”

De Regt: “Not for me.”

Borgman: “Maybe not, but that’s an individual case. We just observed that religious questions are persistent. The point is that there are questions in life which cannot be understood in the way science understands things. For instance, if you need to understand why your brother is dying, none of the answers science has are of any help to you. They are explanations, but they have no connection with your grief. Biology can explain why my brother is dying, and psychology why I am distressed about it, but that doesn’t make my sorrow redundant. Questions about our finiteness don’t go away when you say as a scientist: this is just the way we’re put together biologically.”

De Regt: “But what if I tell the

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story which is now also told by science, namely that every molecule of my body is made from the material of dying stars?

Doesn’t that provide a kind of solace or orientation?”

Borgman: “But then the story you’re telling is no longer scientific; it has become a story offering orientation, which you tell with the aid of science. That can certainly be comforting and convincing, but then it has meaning on a different level than on a strictly scientific level. Purely scientific answers can never take away questions of life orientation.

A religious answer is not a scientific explanation, it is more a way of approaching the question.

‘God exists’ is not an answer to the question, it is a repetition of the question.”

De Regt: “Erik, surely you’ll agree with me that scientific thinking is an important seed of our modern culture? The task of science and philosophy consists of showing people more and more clearly why we think what we think and feel what we feel. And therefore also that many of the concepts we cling to – a transcendental reality, free will – are just illusions. We don’t need them to live happy and moral lives.”

Borgman: “It’s precisely this scientific thinking that raises new existential questions. Thanks to the dissemination of popular scientific insights, many people

have started to doubt everything and to think: that’s right, it’s all actually an illusion. But what then? Because at the same time they experience that the scientific story is not the whole story. Life demands something from them and they have to do something.

Because they feel unable to account for their decisions in a rational way, they regard them as an expression of their own identity, of their highly personal views, which they cannot talk about. This is how exclusive

religious. And one of the reasons why religion is manifesting itself so strongly is precisely because of the increase in things that we know. We know so much, but many people are not satisfied with that, they cannot live with it. Then I think it’s going too far to say: then we just have to teach them to live with it. The idea that your choices are irrelevant is really unbearable; you put your heart and soul on the line for a certain choice in your life, and then someone comes along

‘A religious answer is not a scientific explanation, it is more a way of approaching the question’ faith in science paves the way for irrationality and ‘belief in something’. ‘Somethingism’ is a religion which is unable to express itself properly – a last vestige of: ‘it’s not all just nonsense’.”

De Regt: “I think somethingists are just people who haven’t thought things through well enough. Perhaps that sounds elitist and arrogant. But I think that as academics we are in a position to say: if you think about it better, you’ll have to admit it’s rubbish. When you say ‘people’, you’re talking about people who just don’t think about it.”

Borgman: “I think that’s much too easy. Worldwide religion is growing: people are becoming religious and becoming more

and says: ‘Listen, none of that makes any difference, it’s just an illusion.’ People find that unbearable. So do I.” De Regt: “Yes, but I think that’s precisely the problem of our time.

It’s unbearable, but we still have to bear it.”

Borgman: “OK. Reconciling the fact that life demands commitment with the conviction that we live in an indifferent universe. That’s what religion is about, I would say.”

De Regt: “Exactly. We’ve solved it.”

Borgman: “Solved it? We’ve only just started!”

Anton de Wit

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Introduction

Who are we and what do we stand for?

In the 1960s, traditional religion in Western culture was plunged into a maelstrom of change.

Not only religion, but also the rituals that went with it and in fact the entire culture was transformed through processes such as individualization, secularization, globalization and pluralization.

Believers went in search of new answers to questions of life and death – and so did nonbelievers.

Today we all find our individual paths – with varying degrees of conviction – through a thicket of possibilities. “Not only the Church, but the whole of society is faced with the question of who we are and what we stand for,” says Peter Jonkers, philosopher and Research Dean at the Tilburg School of Theology.

Academic studies of theology, religion and culture have changed in step with developments in society.

At Tilburg University, which has its roots in Catholic tradition, theologians and academics studying religion and culture have shifted the scope of their research to the regeneration of Christian identity and the present-day dynamics of religion and rituals. However, issues of life orientation and new values have also become relevant again to sociologists, psycholo-

gists, economists and lawyers.

How can we fashion a sustainable economy? How do we keep health care humane? How can you achieve meaningful and democratic public administration in a network society? How are values changing within European countries?

Most research into new life orientation at Tilburg University is conducted at the School of Theology and the School of

Humanities. Reseachers at the School of Theology are studying the Catholic Christian identity as it is taking shape in contemporary Western society. They are examining the changes in that identity in terms of both past and present, as well as trying to help shape it themselves. Like many others, the Catholic Church is searching for a new place in society. The outrage associated with sexual abuse by priests is a painful example of this, but the problem makes itself felt in many other areas as well, both within the Church and outside it.

Marcel Poorthuis and Theo Salemink and their colleagues, for instance, are investigating the Catholic Church’s dialogue with Judaism, Islam, Eastern religions and secular movements; Staf Hellemans and Peter Jonkers are examining the place of the Church in public spaces; and Adelbert Denaux and Bart Koet are assessing what the Bible means to us today. These are just a few examples from a broad spectrum of research themes.

LUCE, a Center for Religious Communication affiliated with the School of Theology, organizes lectures, seminars, conferences and courses for churchgoers and others interested in theology, the Church and society. A couple of

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Academic studies and ethics The name of priest and academic Martinus Cobbenhagen (1893-1954) is inseparably linked to Tilburg University.

Cobbenhagen was one of the founders of the Roomsch Katholieke Handelshoogeschool [Roman Catholic College of Trade and Commerce], the forerunner of Tilburg University. From 1927 to 1954 he was Professor of General Theory and History of Economics. He was the first in the Netherlands to disseminate the view that economics and ethics belong together. Today that understanding is still regarded as one of the keystones of the university’s identity.

examples are a very popular seminar about new funeral rituals and a course about the management of a present-day parish. Through Lucepedia (www.lucepedia.nl), a website about religious topics modeled on Wikipedia, the researchers are reaching a wider public than ever before. In collaboration with Tilburg University’s other Schools, the School of Theology has set up a one-year multidisciplinary Master’s program called Christianity in Society.

The primary focus of the School of Humanities’ Department of Culture Studies is the interaction between language, religion and culture. The research program Religion and Rituals is examining the current dynamics of religion and rituals, with special emphasis on contemporary rituals, whether they are associated with institutional forms of religion or not. “It is through the study of life orientation in everyday life that you gain the deepest insights into culture,” explains Research Dean and reli-

gious studies researcher Paul Post.

This culture is characterized by processes of change and plurality – processes which require the reinvention of individual and collective identity. Several projects focus on places and zones where people in today’s culture seek and find meaning and sacrality. For these projects the research group ventures beyond church buildings.

While some projects examine the varied use of churches, temples, mosques and synagogues today, others look at sacral zones and ritual practices in new housing estates, aged care homes and hospitals, prisons, rock festivals, sports fields, schools, tourist attractions and the internet – all places where practices occur which are aimed at shaping identity, warding off death or giving it meaning, and acquiring ‘deep experiences’. Another group of projects is specifically focused on religion and music.

working on a valorization project.

This group, centered around cultural theologian Erik Borgman, lawyer and politician Sophie van Bijsterveld and cultural psychologist and development expert Mirjam van Reisen, is working on the theme of religion in the public domain in a very public-oriented way, entering into dialogue with organizations in society, both public and political.

Both nationally and internationally this department plays a leading and coordinating role. The interuniversity Institute for Liturgical and Ritual Studies is based here.

Specific aspects of religious diversity are studied in projects relating to the current position of Islam and Hinduism; the researchers collaborate closely with Babylon, Tilburg University’s Center for Studies of the Multicultural Society.

This edition of Tilburg Research looks at the subject of contemporary existential meaning by showcasing a cross-section of the university's research from the Schools of Theology, Economics, Law and Social Sciences. There is no doubt about the identity of Tilburg University: social developments are our specialist focus and we study them from the wide variety of disciplines represented in our Schools. That includes the quest for existential meaning.

Corine Schouten

Within the Department of Culture Studies a special vanguard position has been allocated to a group

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PUBLICATIONs

Bovenberg’s equilibrium “Values on their own cannot keep the economic process on the right track. But the government cannot do that on its own either, and neither can the market.

It’s a question of interaction. The important thing is to find the right symmetry – to have checks and balances to ensure that the various coordination mechanisms keep each other in equilibrium, so that you don’t have skewed development.”

This is a key quote from De balans van Bovenberg.

Economie en geloof in crisistijd [Bovenberg’s Equilibrium: Economy and Faith in Times of Crisis]. In this book journalist Tjerk de Reus tries to find out what really makes Professor of Economics Lans Bovenberg tick. He depicts Bovenberg as an academic, a believer and a politically committed man. “I think it’s possible to apply Biblical insights to the economy,” says Bovenberg in this book. “For example: I am absolutely convinced that human beings find fulfillment in serving others. That means that work can be therapeutic.

Economists and politicians should think about how people can be stimulated to serve each other in order to make better use of their talents. If you think about it, it soon becomes concrete. It has applications for the organization of the labor market, the old age pension and the ageing population, for instance.”

The lessons Bovenberg has learnt from the credit crisis include better government control and a better moral compass for the financial sector, which the sector itself will have to develop. A new professional code is just a first step, he thinks: “[…] it must become more explicitly a matter of inner ethics. On the basis of a personal sense of professional responsibility bankers can maintain healthy entrepreneurship and help each other to do so. Later it can be internalized in bankers’ moral preferences. In this way bankers can learn to act according to the spirit of a professional code rather than just the letter – because written rules can never do justice to the complexity and unpredictability of the world. Ultimately the important thing is for bankers to be inspired to see their profession as one in which they serve savers and investors rather than just themselves.” Bovenberg’s Equilibrium is a book about identity, America, Christian politics, the world economy, the credit crisis, culture, the meaning of work, personal values and choices, and the appeal of being a minister of religion.

‘De balans van Bovenberg – Economie en geloof in crisistijd’. Author: Tjerk de Reus. Publisher: Uitgeverij Kok, 2009.

Beyond the church building The present-day debate in Western European culture about giving church buildings a new function or closing them is characterized by a limited view of ritual and sacred spaces. This view disregards the place that rituality, religion and the sacred have in our society and culture today. It is time for a different perspective – one that does justice to a different sacral domain, says Professor of Ritual and Liturgical Studies Paul Post in his study ‘Voorbij het kerkgebouw’ [‘Beyond the Church Building’].

In this study Post places the church building in a broad context of 'other sites' of 'sacral-religious' presence: sites where the dead are commemorated, theatres, museums, the world of heritage, tourist attractions, nature, pilgrimage, sport. His explorations reveal the contours of a different sacral domain as a space for ritual and religion.

Paul Post, ‘Voorbij het kerkgebouw. De speelruimte van een ander sacraal domein’. Publisher: Uitgeverij Abdij Van Berne, 2010.

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research portrait

‘In our culture people are generally not very attentive’ Name: Ivan Nyklicek Position: Associate Professor Institute: CoRPS, Center of Research on Psychology in Somatic Diseases Research: Mindfulness

“

Mindfulness, the path to awareness, is a hot topic.

Many magazines are full of it and training sessions and courses are springing up like mushrooms. I welcome all this interest in mindfulness, because I have observed for myself how much it can raise the quality of life. Because of my own positive experiences with it I want to investigate its value on a scientific basis. I have now succeeded in doing that in relation to its effects on well-being. My study of the effect of mindfulness shows that attending a training session leads to less stress.

Mindfulness is often defined as focusing attention on the present. You are aware of ‘what is’, without labeling it or getting involved. While you walk to the printer, you observe your walking, the environment, your mood and your thoughts. If you are angry, you acknowledge that, you observe the effect anger has on your body and limbs, but you do not make any judgment about it. ‘I’m angry now’: that’s the way it is, I accept it.

Through experiments I am trying to gain insight into the effects of mindfulness training on physiological stress reactions and psychological well-being. Forty people suffering from stress participated in an eight-week mindfulness training program at Tilburg University. They had signed up for an attentionfocused stress reduction training program. I compared their experiences with those of forty other people who had also signed up for the course, but had been placed on a waiting list.

The study showed a clear positive effect on the mind and on several physical stress-related complaints, such as blood pressure and the hormone cortisol. The stress levels of people who had done the course had dropped more than those of people on the waiting list and, to the extent that this drop affected the psyche, it was directly related to increased mindfulness.

You can practice mindfulness. The subjects in my experiment received training based on the method of American professor Jon Kabat-Zinn. The course included breathing exercises, hatha yoga, information about stress, and insight meditation. In addition to the two-and-a-half-hour training sessions, there was also a CD to practice with at home. Questionnaires were handed out before and after the course to gain insight into levels of both stress and mindfulness.

In our culture people are generally not very attentive.

This is particularly the case in cultures focused on doing as much as possible in a short period of time and on achieving targets. Many people cannot cope with the current pace, competitiveness and harshness of society and suffer from stress, emotional exhaustion or burnouts. Mindfulness aims at the opposite of this.

If it turns out that mindfulness training works – and at present it looks that way – it is an ideal method of preventing further suffering. As soon as stress and tension drop, the quality of life rises and so does enjoyment of life. [Irene Herbers]

”

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research portrait

‘Ageing should be thought of in terms of meaning and purpose in finite time’ Name: Position: Department: Research:

Jan Baars Professor of Gerontology and Philosophy of Human and Social Sciences Philosophy, Tilburg School of Humanities Philosophy of time

“

We have become accustomed to the idea that ageing is determined by the number of years a person has lived.

But this way of thinking has a lot of limitations; there are many other aspects involved in ageing. The fact that our life expectancy has doubled over the past 150 years shows in itself that age itself does not play a clear-cut role. Research has shown that in the Netherlands, as elsewhere, level of education, residential environment and the kind of work people do are associated with huge differences in healthy life expectancy.

My subject is the philosophy of time. My research on life orientation includes both fundamental philosophical questions arising from our lives in time and important topical issues in which conceptions of time play a key role. As regards the second set of issues, I have been following discussions about ageing for over 25 years, not only in politics, but also in biology, psychology and social sciences. Various conceptions of time play a role in these discussions, but they are dominated by one specific form: chronological time.

In our society and in politics, the discussion revolves mainly around the costs of health care services and pensions. A large part of the health care sector is weighed down by the dominance of thinking in terms of chronological time, which is easy to convert into cost calculations. This leads to a culture of time budgets which has dubious effects on the quality of health care. The debate about pensions also suffers from the dominance of thinking in terms of chronological time, in this case chronological age.

The idea that policy geared to chronological age is fair assumes that every working person is confronted with the same work load and the same wear and tear, and that these factors increase uniformly with chronological age. This generalization is based on the situation in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when people worked in harsh conditions and only reached pension age relatively rarely. Heavy labor still exists, but differences in work situations have become much greater. As a result, policy based on chronological age generates more problems than it solves. Moreover, governments operate mainly from perspectives which are limited to short chronological periods, so that they tend to avoid fundamental problems.

In short, the chronological approach to time has many practical advantages, but it has become too dominant, and people have therefore lost sight of other forms of time. An hour can be experienced as being extremely long or as very short. Our memories do not function in a primarily chronological way either: an event from the past can stand out much more clearly than something that happened yesterday. This also applies to our collective memory.

With respect to life orientation it is crucial to liberate the perception of the duration of time from endless, indifferent chronological time. Ageing deserves to be thought of in terms of meaning and purpose in finite time; those involved are unique individuals and the time in which they live is richer than its chronological dimensions. [Tineke Bennema]

”

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There is no such thing as the calculating citizen I’m doing fine, but we are doing badly. It’s as though this is a universal view in the Netherlands: society has become harder, people only think of themselves. “This is not consistent with our research findings,” say social scientists Paul de Graaf and Loek Halman. “Morality is taking revenge,” claims cultural sociologist Gabriel van den Brink.

Sociological research shows that the Netherlands is tolerant, wealthy and free-spirited. Over and over again it turns out that the Dutch are contented people with pleasant jobs and a happy family life. They are world champions in volunteer work, they trust their neighbors and are proud of their country, according to the questionnaires. But what a different picture is presented by the media! We are satisfied with ourselves, but typical Dutch people have become anti-social and think only of themselves. We are governed by profiteers, the streets

are unsafe and there is no respect or appreciation.

Moral being Why is it that research findings reveal a true Dutch paradise, while inhabitants of the country do not experience this in practice?

Gabriel van den Brink has a clear answer: “We are not measuring the right things. Questionnaires do not ask about meaning and ideals – and that’s exactly where the roots of people’s dissatisfaction lie.” Cultural sociologist Van den Brink, Professor of Public Administration at Tilburg

University, has just completed a big research project called De lage landen en het hogere [The Low Countries and Higher Things].

This study looks for an explanation of the considerable degree of dissatisfaction in today’s society.

Van den Brink uses sociological research for this purpose, but also turns to theology and cultural theory.

Van den Brink is keen to divulge his conclusion. “The reason behind this dissatisfaction is that we have banished higher things from public life. We no longer talk about ideals and meaning.

A kind of enlightened cynicism holds sway. The common opinion seems to be that our society revolves around money, power and passions. We have come to regard ordinary citizens as calculating, rational beings who are only out for their own interests.

Human beings are strongly moral beings But this is completely wrong.

Human beings are strongly moral beings. We value justice, respect and modesty highly – in fact, those qualities is what our lives are about. You can’t ignore this morality for 25 years with impunity. It’s now avenging itself, and that’s what has led to this crisis.”

Between heaven and earth The fact that Dutch people have high morals has been confirmed

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by the European Values Study, a long-term study of values and the development of values in Europe in which Tilburg University has a leading role. Program Director Loek Halman: “We all condemn actions that can harm other people, such as social security fraud, joy-riding, taking bribes or lying.

The ratings on these items have

Going to church was an obligation not dropped at all since the EVS started in 1981. We really do distinguish very clearly between right and wrong. You also see that in society: the vast majority of people buy bus and train tickets, even though the chance of being caught fare-dodging is very low. We are not calculating citizens.”

The latest EVS data also show that the Netherlands is a religious country. The percentage of atheists is about five per cent, whereas the average figure in Europe is 18 per cent. “But believing is not the same as being a churchgoer or thinking that God determines your life,” Halman stresses.

“Dutch people believe there is more between heaven and earth.”

However, this unspecified belief in a higher realm (‘somethingism’) does not affect people’s pattern of moral values. ‘Somethingists’ and atheists have the same views. “The churches used to be full, but I

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New wave European Values Study Since 1981 the European Values Study (EVS) has been using questionnaires to provide a picture of Europeans’ views on sex, democracy, religion, happiness, emancipation, euthanasia etc. In November 2011 the latest results will be presented at a big international conference in Tilburg and a new edition of the Atlas of European Values is about to appear. What can we expect?

• Paul de Graaf: “This was the first time Europeans were asked about their opinions on capital punishment. I had thought that condemnation of capital punishment would be the strongest in tolerant countries like the Netherlands. But it turned out this was not the case. It was in Kosovo and Georgia – countries which have recently experienced armed conflicts – that people were the most resolutely against capital punishment.” 87 and 78 per cent respectively think that capital punishment cannot be defended in any circumstances. In the Netherlands that is 48 per cent.

• Loek Halman: “I think it’s striking that there is so little change in Western Europe’s values. The Scandinavian countries are leaders when it comes to social reform. The Netherlands follows. But things have clearly slowed down. Western Europe is at a very high level of happiness and confidence. The other European countries are moving in the same direction, some faster than others, but there is undeniably evidence of a convergence of values towards a higher level of individualization and post-materialism."

For more information see www.europeanvaluesstudy.eu.

don’t think that was because more people believed in a higher realm.

Going to church was an obligation – there was a high level of social control.”

New heroes Van den Brink defines a higher realm today as: the idea of a greater whole with which people feel connected and which motivates them to act selflessly. At present one third of Dutch society at the most associate a higher realm

with God or higher forces. About half adopt a social approach: we give meaning to higher purposes by serving society. Van den Brink: “Just look at our new heroes. Who are they? Doctors and police officers. Hospital and police series are very popular. That’s because doctors and police officers in particular are confronted with the moral dilemmas of our times.”

It’s difficult to capture values in sociological research, according to Van den Brink. As soon as peo-

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ple have to fill in a questionnaire, they start to reason. Studying contemporary heroes provides more information. They represent what is good – they are the role models.

Apart from God and serving society, Van den Brink also sees a third expression of a higher realm in modern society. A growing group of Dutch people – now about twenty per cent – looks for higher things in the physical: sport, health or nature, sex and drugs. “It’s a deliberate provocation to connect the body with a higher realm,” says Van den Brink. “We have gone beyond Descartes’ idea of human beings which distinguished clearly between mind and spirit.” He is not yet sure whether this trend is a positive or negative development. Devotion to a healthy life, nature and environment can be selfless. And martial arts often have strict rules which are rooted in tradition and respect for one’s opponent. So it depends very much on the form. Van den Brink summarizes: “We now have three approaches to the higher realm: the sacred, the social and the vital.”

Right and wrong According to Professor of Analyses of Socio-Cultural Processes Paul de Graaf there is no moral crisis in the Netherlands. “There is a kind of pseudo-idealization of the past going on. Why should people now be less selfless and more antisocial? It’s true that you see

more examples of super-egoism and antisocial behavior, but my impression is that that’s because the media pay more attention to it and we are given more and more information. But that doesn’t mean that violence has become more acceptable. Quite the opposite, I would say.”

The individualization which is often seen as the cause of antisocial behavior has actually brought a lot of good things, De Graaf stresses. People can make their own choices. Members of indi-

‘We have gone beyond Descartes’ idea of human beings which distinguished clearly between mind and spirit’ vidualized societies are usually happier. “Perhaps we’re spoiled. If you’re poor you only see opportunities, if you’re rich you see mainly threats. But a good indicator of social cohesion in society is trust, and that has simply not declined in the Netherlands.”

But Van den Brink has observed cynicism. Ideals are out of fashion – we are ashamed to talk about them. Since the 1980s policy has been presented in terms of purchasing power. The economy is the highest good, even in the health care sector and other pub-

lic domains. “But we are paying a high price for that,” says the cultural sociologist. “If you take the ideals away from professions such as medicine, teaching, banking and policing, what have you got left? Ordinary people who earn their living from eight to five. You diminish people, and then it’s easy to buck against their authority. People also start to behave according to this picture of amorality. In the past nurses were there to help, hearten and console people; now the emphasis is on efficiency. A bank has become a company that maximizes profit.”

Van den Brink does not have a ready-made solution. He wants to show people that the higher realm has not given up on us.

And that it should be given a new footing in our society. He hopes that his study and his book will contribute to this process. “Most people have had enough of all this mean-spirited, bitter grumbling.

They have a need for vision and a fresh perspective on the future.

It's time to do away with the cynicism of the calculating citizen.”

Marga van Zundert

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Digital Emmaus

By Frank Bosman

The second decade of the 21st century will undoubtedly be dominated by social media. In Web 2.0 the traditional roles of sender and receiver have gone out the window. Websites on which ‘ordinary people’ can leave information and/or react to each other are cropping up everywhere: YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, Hyves, Twitter, Flickr; the list seems infinite.

For a tweeting theologian like me (twitter.com/ frankgbosman) all these social media constitute both a playground and a work desk. I communicate with an ever-increasing group of people about my theological research on Hugo Ball, the 'King of Dada'.

I receive responses to academic and popularizing articles and blogs about spirituality in combination with films like Tron: Legacy and video games like Fallout 3. In conjunction with the crowd I analyze my media appearances about the Catholic Church and the relationship between church and state. It’s fun, but it’s also a way to reach people who would normally speaking have nothing to do with theology or the university.

I try to steer a middle course between the wisdom of the crowd and ‘old-fashioned’, rigorous academic craftsmanship. I do that, for example, together with many fellow theologians in the Lucepedia.nl project.

On our School of Theology’s website journalists and theologians work together to make academic theology accessible to a wide audience of interested people. We write introductions and give wide-ranging and well-founded book and Web recommendations.

In future Web surfers will be able to add their own information. That will be exciting: we will see tension between the academic predilection for objectivity and the internet crowd’s craving for subjective expression.

Just to be clear: we need both to live good, happy and satisfying lives.

As a theologian I am also interested in God’s presence on the internet. And I can assure everyone: he is certainly there! But often in strange disguises.

God, Jesus, JHWH or Jehovah, each have their own Twitter account and bombard the twenty different Benedict XVIs with lots of unsolicited advice. Six Catholics pass on the Dutch version of the Catholic catechism in tweets (twitter.com/kathochismus), The biggest ‘problem’ with social media is of course the reliability of the information provided. If everything while St Titus Brandsma gives a daily account of the last six months before he was/is to be (?) murdered can be supplemented, improved (or made worse) or (twitter.com/patertitus42). Religious journalists have removed by anyone at any time, who can guarantee discussions with ministers of religion on Hyves. ‘innocent’ Web surfers that the information they find And YouTube-priests and godvoordommen.nl [god is reliable? Digital optimists swear by the wisdom of for dummies.nl] sneer and gibe. It’s a market place the crowd and point to the success of Wikipedia, for instance. Several studies have shown that the reliability – some people like it, others don’t. But those who can stand their ground will find the shadow of divine of most of the entries in this online encyclopedia are inspiration between the ones and zeroes of Web 2.0, not inferior in quality to similar offline projects with in unexpected encounters on the digital Emmaus. independent academic editors. Digital pessimists (or realists?) point out that this may be true for Frank G. Bosman is a cultural theologian and Wikipedia,but certainly does not apply to readers’ PhD candidate at LUCE/Centre for Religious comments that appear almost every hour on the Communication, Tilburg School of Theology. Weblog: umpteenth blog. www.goedgezelschap.eu.

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Handbook young people and religion

‘If young people need a sermon, they’ll download it themselves’ Young people find their own ways of engaging with religion. The interesting thing is that you see exactly the same patterns among young Catholics, Protestants and Muslims, says Tilburg sociologist of religion Dr Monique van Dijk-Groeneboer. The recently published Handbook on young people and religion which she edited discusses not only the findings of ten years of anthropological and sociological research, but also stories from everyday life and best practices for involving young people more actively in religion.

The book is part of the Utrecht Studies series, a collaborative project of Utrecht University’s Department of Theology and Religious Studies and Tilburg

Young people attach a great deal of importance to moral values University’s School of Theology.

“At a conference it struck me how many islands of research there are in the academic world,” says the Tilburg researcher. “I have been doing research among Catholic

school students for a long time myself, but I knew little about the religious lives of Protestant or Islamic school students.

Sociologists want to know what anthropologists are doing in relation to this theme. Another thing is that academics have little idea of the wealth of practical experience gained by fieldworkers in religious projects for young people. But if you bring all this knowledge together, you discover new connections, which remain the same across the religions.”

From Fortissimo to Tranquillo Van Dijk made a division along two

axes. Are young people involved with a religious institution or not?

And do religion and life orientation matter to them in their everyday lives or not? This resulted in four groups. Monique van Dijk calls the first group – approximately 15 per cent of the young people – the Fortissimos: they are usually fairly orthodox, turn up for prayers regularly, are active within their church or mosque and are involved in the organization of modern religious events. A quarter of the young people are what Van Dijk calls the Legatos: they only go to Church at Christmas or for a wedding or baptism. The third group is just as big: the Spirituosos. These ‘religious butterflies’ are actively engaged in religion and a search for meaning and purpose, but on their own, outside the institutions. They meditate or do yoga, eat organic food, may observe Ramadan and then on another occasion spend a week in a monastery. The remaining 40 per cent have been named Tranquillos – they are not associated with a church and not engaged with religious life orientation. But, says Van Dijk, “although a term like ‘godless’ doesn’t sound very flattering, young people actually attach a great deal of importance to moral values. Since 1997 this

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sociologist of religion has been interviewing 2000 students from Year 4 of Havo (senior general secondary education) and Year 5 of VWO (pre-university education) at Catholic schools every five years.

The students are asked to indicate on a five-point scale what is important to them in life. They are also asked what ties they have with religion, what image they have of God, and what terms they themselves would use for that. problem of language Traditional religious life is the easiest to document systematically; for instance, you can record whether young people attend various religious events or not. Other, more modern forms of religious experience and spiritual attribution of meaning are more difficult to identify. Van Dijk: “If you want to ask young people about these things,

than the impression given by the media, which mainly highlights the most fundamentalist young Muslims.” permanent lifelong paid memberships becoming obsolete The Handbook on young people and religion is about young people aged 15 to 25. Those aged 15 to 18 nearly always still live at home, are very busy with school and jobs, and are keen to be free and independent. Between the ages of 19 and 25 most young people develop a better idea of what they want, start relationships and move into a place of their own. Then issues of religious life orientation are more likely to come into play.

“In particular, young people’s attitudes to the institutions has changed a great deal over the past ten years,” concludes Van Dijk.

Some imams would like to modernize, but are afraid of conflict with the Board and losing their residence permits you have a language problem.

Researchers use certain terms.

Questionnaires contain lists of printed items for the respondents to check off. First young people tick the box to indicate that they are not affiliated with the Church, but then they speak highly of various typically religious values such as tolerance and love of one’s fellow men. It is also striking that the spiritual world of young Muslims is much broader and more varied

“They are no longer keen to accept hierarchy, fixed rules and regulations, and memberships. They attach great importance to autonomy, are connected with all kinds of networks, have friends all over the world, can be reached night and day. If they need a sermon, they’ll download it themselves. Religious institutions will have to find new ways in which to convey their messages. The idea of permanent lifelong paid memberships is becom-

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ing obsolete.”

Often there is also a wide gap between Islamic young people and the conservative elders on the Board of the mosque. Van Dijk: “Often Islamic young people cannot even understand the sermon.

Some imams would like to modernize, but are afraid of conflict with the Board and losing their residence permits.”

For more and more young Catholics the Church is something they know only through their grandparents. “They do need support in their lives, but do not know that they can find that support in the Church. And if they do go to church, then it’s mainly so they themselves can cope with life better. The coping function of religion is very important to young people.”

Van Dijk thinks that the Church still has a valuable message and that it should be completely sincere and clear about it. “The true message is still love for the world, and that message still appeals to young people. But institutions will have to find new forms to convey that message, otherwise they will only have the Fortissimos left. They will have to ask young people if that message suits them, how they would define it personally, and what questions they themselves are pondering. They have to approach the young people actively.”

Marion de Boo

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research portrait

‘The need for public commemoration through monuments is growing’ Name: Dr Laurie Faro Position: PhD candidate Department: Knowledge Center for Ritual Studies, Department of Culture Studies, School of Humanities Research: Holocaust memorial; function of war monuments

“

On Museum Square in the heart of Amsterdam stands a monument commemorating the Dutch victims of the Ravensbrück concentration camp. Passersby take a rest there to eat a sandwich. And if there’s a fun fair in the city, the attractions are just set up around it. The square seems to be a strange place for a monument, but this location was chosen deliberately; the idea was that the women and men who died at Ravensbrück also stood at the center of the community.

At a different location, such as a cemetery, the message the monument wants to convey, namely ‘Fascism – never again’, would not have the same impact.

I am investigating how people experience monuments.

What is the relationship between the people who visit the monument and the suffering which took place in the past? To what extent do monuments and commemoration rituals help people to deal with emotions? Do they have a healing effect? And what effect does a location – such as Museum Square – have on commemoration ceremonies?

I live in the province of Brabant. Since 2000 I have seen a significant increase there in the number of monuments for stillborn babies. This was how I came to choose my research topic. Until the mid-1960s, there were no proper funerals for stillborn babies of Catholic parents, because the babies had not been baptized. In the evening, their fathers would bury them in shoeboxes in unconsecrated ground. The pain has had an ongoing impact on those involved. But why is it only now that monuments are being put in place? It seems as

though the need felt for public commemoration through monuments has increased over recent years, and this tendency has also been noted in the literature.

A third kind of monument I am investigating, in addition to Ravensbrück and the monuments for stillborn babies, is what I call a ‘virtual monument’. At www. joodsmonument.nl the victims of the Shoah are symbolized by colored blocks. If you click on a block, you see the victim’s name. You can see the photos, read where they lived. This monument is linked to a community – a kind of Facebook, where people upload their photos and tell their stories.

What effect does this digital commemoration have on people? It’s not a place you go to, like the monument on Museum Square. On the Web, you can commemorate the whole year round, at any time, day or night, whereas Ravensbrück is commemorated once a year. That provides structure. It means that the rest of the year the veil can be drawn over the painful emotions – the memories of suffering and of the people who did not survive, the feelings of guilt.

Presently I am working on the interviews I conducted with people who were in Ravensbrück and their children. One of the women described the camp to me in detail, as if she were there again. The feeling of solidarity among the women at that time, which she now missed so much because she was physically no longer able to attend the annual commemoration ceremony.

[Meike Oosterwijk]

”

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research portrait

Making sense with money Name: Position: Institute: Research:

Nicole Mead Postdoctoral Research Fellow Tiber, Tilburg Institute for Behavioral Economics Research Money and social well-being

“

Money and social relationships are central facets of modern human life. Yet the two often seem to be at odds with one another. My research examines basic questions about how money changes the way that people think about themselves in relation to others. On a personal level, this research suggests how people can use money to improve their social relationships and their overall well-being. On a societal level, it provides us with ways to increase charitable giving and negotiations.

At Tiber I have conducted several kinds of studies concerning the impact of money on people’s lives. For example, why does money have deleterious interpersonal consequences? Are there times when people will trade-off financial well-being in order to fulfil the deeply rooted need for social relationships?

In one set of studies, my colleagues and I found that merely thinking about money interferes with social harmony because it decreases people’s motivation to understand and coordinate with others. For example, merely thinking about life with abundant finances made people assume that others shared their opinions.

People reminded of money also put less effort into making a good first impression, thereby making them less likable to other people, compared to people who thought about life with restricted finances.

Sometimes, however, lack of concern about making a good impression on others actually makes for a good social outcome. In a context that required social

sensitivity, in this case an interracial interaction, people who were exposed to money cues made a better impression on others than people who had not been exposed to money cues. This is because the former were not nervous about saying or doing the wrong thing, which led to a relatively smoother social interaction.

In a different set of studies, I examined the opposite question – when people will trade off money to gain social acceptance. In a series of experiments, participants who experienced severed social connections used money and consumption as a way to gain acceptance from others. This ranged from the innocuous – such as using money they earned in the experiment to buy a product that symbolized group membership to another student – to the illegal and dangerous – such as being willing to try cocaine.

The studies were conducted in both the laboratory and the field across the world. Their social relevance lies in its implications for marketing, negotiations, behavorial economics, public policy and consumer welfare. On a personal level, being too focused on money can weaken people’s willingness to understand and appreciate others’ views, which could erode social harmony. This in turn can have severe consequences for physical and psychological well-being given that having positive social relationships is a fundamental human need. That said, money is not inimical to social relationships and social well-being. Rather, people can use money to help them connect to others, such as through social experiences.

[Irene Herbers]

”

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An economy of debt as opposed to an economy of abundance

What we have learnt from the credit crisis Have we learnt anything from the credit crisis, which overtook us all, even the economists? Have our socio-economic standards changed because of it? And can ethics actually play a role in economics? An interview with Professor of Economics, Business and Ethics, Johan Graafland, and with Catholic theologian Willem Marie Speelman, about an economy based on debt, and an economy based on a sense of community.

St Francis of Assisi. Graafland’s research shows that it is much less difficult to apply them to our present-day economy than we think. The change is not limited just to increased awareness; the banking industry and policy makers (including politicians) have taken concrete measures to put the new values into practice. Banks have become more cautious about giving credit and the government has introduced retrenchment programs. However, Graafland be caring for their customers and thinks that some measures are just those customers’ long-term intertreatment of the symptom. “For ests. The banks must be meticulous instance, all economists agree that with their risk analyses; too many mortgage interest relief should be mistakes have been made in the abolished. But precisely those parpast. The value of moderation has ties that aim to reduce the role of come to the fore. Financial conthe government are now unable to servatism is a good thing: it creates muster the courage to implement a buffer to cope with any setbacks.” this measure.”

One of the most important lessons of the credit crisis was that there are high risks associated with the strong emphasis on making profit and on shareholder power. These fixations had an adverse effect on customers’ interests and applied mainly to short-term targets, says Professor Johan Graafland of the Tilburg School of Economics and Economists have also done some Management. The banking indussoul-searching and learnt from mistry has become aware of these developments and has clearly adopt- takes, says Graafland. “They failed to assess the developments properly, ed new values, which are set out in the systemic risks taken by banks the Banking Code. were not identified. Academics have Graafland: “First and foremost, the now become more aware of the complexity of economics. This has led to spotlight has now turned on the greater humility.” integrity of the banking industry: These values – integrity, humilthe banks have to be transparent ity, moderation and mercy – are and honest in providing informaalso to be found in the doctrine of tion. Their priority will have to

Change of values Nevertheless, Graafland thinks the first steps that have been taken are good. But in his opinion four mechanisms are needed to consolidate this change of values. These mechanisms are interwoven and must influence each other. “The market itself has responded to the crisis, has become more cautious; people are taking less risk. Then there is government regulation: the

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Basel III agreement, which states that banks must build in more buffers and reserves. This is based on a third mechanism: that of the banks’ own responsibility through corporate governance, which is supposed to prevent a repetition of the credit crisis. And these elements are supported by ethics, the intrinsic motivation and mission of banks; banks must focus not on bonuses and short-term thinking, but on a different corporate culture in which the manager serves as an example. Issues such as sustainability and corporate social responsibility are part of this.”

These four elements will be able to ensure that the chances of a new crisis are reduced. But, says Graafland: “I am realistic; these are all adaptations within the framework of capitalism. The momentum of the lessons learnt from the credit crisis will subside – we’re already grown used to the situation again. From a Christian point of view I also believe in human failure at all levels. Ethics can’t change everything, but we can create stimuli to elicit sensible behavior. For instance, if you feel responsible as a manager for sustainability and human dignity, that gives your work more content.”

Economy of abundance Theologian Willem Marie Speelman sees the economy from a completely different angle. He has studied St Francis of Assisi’s ideas about money. Speelman’s main point is that since the intro-

duction of a monetary economy in the Middle Ages (St Francis’s era), our economy has become onesidedly based on debt.

“Every economy has two faces: shortage and abundance. In an economy of shortage we build up debt; in an economy of abundance we build up trust. A community which is based on abundance is a sharing community. There is a sense of community, of collectivity and willingness. I give without expecting anything back. In a community where shortage prevails, everyone constantly owes something to everyone else.”

According to Speelman the introduction of money meant that people became more individualistic.

“Today if I give you something you need, I build up credit and you owe me something. This was not so strongly the case when we shared what we needed. St Francis of Assisi was against the new economy: after his conversion he never touched money again in his life.”

A different ethic Speelman applied St Francis’s doctrine of aversion to money to our credit crisis. He heard former finance minister Wouter Bos say that at a certain point we would reach the bottom and that the stock exchange would start to rise again. Speelman: “I thought: what is that bottom? Isn’t that an economy based on a true sense of community and mutual trust?

Now the whole world lives on credit and debt. Here in my wallet I’ve

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got a card I can use everywhere to pay with virtual money. I actually live without money, but with debt all the same. The Portuguese and Greek economies have heavy debts, but they still continue to exist.

Imagine if everyone was given a credit card, and then we absolved all debts. Then the economy would only exist to the extent that there was trust. I would trust you for a loaf of bread or to fix a tire, but I wouldn’t build a 5-ton yacht for you. OK, so there just wouldn’t be any more 5-ton yachts. Is that such a bad thing? The economy would just continue, but at a lower level.

I’m not saying – as St Francis did – that we should never touch money again. But the economy should be based on a different ethic. If you stop trying to acquire unnecessary possessions and even stop making them available, if you base the economy on mutual trust, you create an economy of abundance. If you share everything there is with everyone you will be rich.”

But how can you change an economy based on greed into an idealistic economy of abundance? People will always be greedy. But they will also always be loving and trustworthy.

You can reinforce the values that are essential and remove obstructions. Reinforce a sense of community, for example, and volunteer work. That’s where you’ll find the building blocks for a redeeming economy.”

Tineke Bennema

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NEWS Light and silence: new symbols in rituals Christian symbols and traditions are still used in the home rituals of modern families, but often in a new way. It is the women who direct the procedure. This is the view of theologian Goedroen Juchtmans, who investigated rituals in a new housing development in Tilburg called Reeshof.

The exodus from the churches which began in the 1960s has not led to the elimination of religion or belief in higher powers. The churches lost authority over the practice of religion and rituals, and in the first instance this led to a vacuum. But since the 1990s in particular many rituals – often new ones – have been carried out in people’s homes.

In the Tilburg neighborhood of Reeshof Goedroen Juchtmans visited schools and families, interviewing and observing them in the course of a year. Most of the residents of this neighborhood are Catholics and when

there are important events in their lives such as births, deaths or Christian feast days they perform rituals at home. The rituals are carried out by the women and are sometimes secular, but also often still based on Christian rituals they remember from childhood. These rituals are often made sacral: explicit prayer formulas and references to God disappear and basic symbols such as light and silence become crucial.

Juchtmans does not agree with the view that faith has become individualized. According to her, although personal perception has a prominent place in home rituals, it cannot be separated from tradition and the group. As a group the family plays the biggest role.

PhD thesis: Goedroen Juchtmans, ‘Rituelen thuis: van christelijk tot basaal sacraal’ [‘Home Rituals: From Christian to Basic Sacral’].

Religion influences corporate social responsibility Corporate social responsibility is in. Managers aim to achieve not only financial profit, but also social and ecological objectives. They do this because it is rewarding, because it’s ‘the right thing to do’, or because it feels good to contribute to the well-being of others. Because little is known about this at present, Corrie Mazereeuw-van der Duijn Schouten investigated the role of religion in corporate social responsibility.

An extensive questionnaire distributed among members of employers’ organizations in the Netherlands showed that managers who believe in God and practice their religion actively (referred to as traditionally religious managers) are not so much motivated to adopt corporate social responsibility because ‘it’s the right thing to do’ (the ethical motive), but more because of the well-being of others

(the altruistic motive). The motive that it is financially rewarding is given less frequently by these managers than by managers who do not believe in God. Charity Religious managers also have a different practical way of applying corporate social responsibility than managers who are not traditionally religious: they emphasize charity.

In practice, non-religious managers tend to apply corporate social responsibility mainly in connection with the integration of minorities.

PhD thesis: Corrie Mazereeuw–van der Duijn Schouten, ‘Doing Business for Heaven’s Sake: Studies on the Relationship between Religiosity and Socially Responsible Business Conduct.’

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COLUMN

Betting on God

By Paul van Geest

Thanks to a seventeenth-century copper engraving

by W. Swanenburg, we still have a good idea of what the first Leiden University Library was like. The print shows eleven rows of bookcases seen from above. The skilful artist has engraved the names of the academic disciplines represented in the library on the tops of the bookcases. One row is for the mathematici; two rows are reserved for the philosophi and three for the literatores. The remaining six cases are occupied by works studied mainly by the theologi.

It seems that there is not a single book in the library about the field we now refer to as economics – unless any such works are included among the theological books. That sounds strange, but it is not. In the late fifteenth century it was the priest Gabriel Biel, the first Professor of Theology at the newly founded University of Tübingen, who wrote a treatise on the power and utility of money: Tractatus de potestate et utilitate monetarum. In this work he lists all the factors that determine the market price of a product.

His opinion of commerce is less negative than that of earlier theologians such as Thomas Aquinas.

According to Biel, an entrepreneur is entitled to remuneration because he invests, works and takes risks. The founding father of Tilburg University, priest and professor Martinus Cobbenhagen, is part of a long tradition.

But this is actually all by the way. Looking at the engraving, I can’t help wondering what has gone wrong with my discipline. I myself studied theology at the Gregoriana in Rome, where there were over 300 students in the first year when I started. Since I have been working at Tilburg University’s School of Theology, I have had to face – better late than never –

the brutal fact that as far as numbers go we are by far the smallest School. Whatever went wrong?

If Swanenburg were to make an engraving of a university library today, the books for the theologi would no longer be prominently depicted.

It would be going too far to try to sum up all the factors contributing to this in the remaining 162 words at my disposal. Enlightenment, the idea of progress, secularization and depillarization: a great deal has been written about them. However, I can still fit one explanation in. We don’t like wagers. In his Pensées (233) the seventeenth-century philosopher Blaise Pascal made it compellingly clear that you can’t really say anything about God. Nothing about God can be tested, measured, verified. (This is actually why we are such a dirt cheap School.) Pascal compared the ‘existence’ of God with the ‘infinite numbers’ of mathematics. Series of numbers are infinite. We are aware of that, but nevertheless we cannot quite grasp it with our limited minds. In the same way it is also impossible to establish through reasoning whether or not God exists. We can’t know for sure. In this context Pascal goes on to compare life with a game of chance. You can choose to believe in God. You can also choose not to do so. But Pascal thought it was a good idea to bet on God’s existence, because that meant opting for incomprehensible Infinity.

With his certainty and his uncertainty Pascal is part of a long tradition. Should the Tilburg School of Theology ever become a central combined School, it will become easier to take note of this fascinating tradition. The library will expand again.

Paul van Geest is Professor of Augustinian Studies and Research Director of the Centre for Patristic Research (Tilburg University, VU University Amsterdam)

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‘The assignment of meaning is often disregarded’ What are the really important things in the everyday reality of politics, public administration and policy making? There are plenty of models and theories, but what goes on on the shop floor is often disregarded – and that’s exactly where the core of these activities is to be found. A group of political scientists and public administration experts have put forward a different tactic: interpretive analysis.

‘Stories make police work more meaningful’ Jaco van Hoorn, member of the Central Holland Police command corps, believes that sharing stories about experiences is very important in everyday police work. “A story is a very powerful means of acknowledging the essence of an incident,” he writes in his book on management in the police force. According to Van Hoorn, the core of police work consists of encounters between police officers and citizens, and the essence of this only comes out in stories. “Apart from that, stories are great because they go to the heart of what motivates people,” he says. “Sharing stories and listening to them creates connections between people, thus also between managers and staff. We need that more and more. When we talk about police work in management terms (products, performance and process indicators, processes, outcome agreements, etc.), we miss the essence.” Van Hoorn says that managers should ask staff to share their stories and then listen to them carefully. In this way, sharing stories will provide opportunities for improving police work.

Jaco van Hoorn, ‘Sturen op vertrouwen. Goed leidinggeven aan goed politiewerk’ [Guidance by Trust: Good Management for Good Police Work].

Published by Uitgeverij Boom, 2010.

For anthropologist and public administration expert Merlijn van Hulst, stories from everyday reality are pivotal. Based at the Tilburg School of Politics and Public Administration (TSPB), he sets out to collect real life stories, for instance from people in lowincome neighborhoods and from police officers. The experiences they report reveal the heart of the matter.

Like everybody else at work, police officers share their experiences with each other, Van Hulst explains. If officers have been involved in a chase after a violent hold-up, for instance, they will share their stories in the canteen.

For some police officers the core of police work lies in little things: they might share a story about a woman thanking the police for their unsolicited assistance.

“Stories like this show what people get from an experience, what is important to them,” says Van Hulst. “These stories are not stored in databases. They make it clear to me how important sharing stories is and how people give meaning to what they do in everyday life. You can deduce that from what people tell and don’t tell, how they tell it, who they tell and why.

Fundamental questions What’s it really all about? What points of view can we adopt and what consequences will that have

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for our ultimate actions? These are fundamental questions about core concerns which we usually disregard. But when problems arise they suddenly become important. According to Van Hulst, it is the answers to these questions that are often missing in technocratic solutions. We only find out what those answers are when we look at everyday reality, where they are hidden in interactions between people, in processes or between the lines.

The core can be found by using qualitative research methods such as observation, in-depth interviews and analyses of people’s stories: interpretive analysis.

“The assignment of meaning is often disregarded,” says Van Hulst, “but a story says more than figures.”

Interpretive analysis looks for the meaning which is important to processes and power relationships in administration and policy making and is sometimes also deliberately critical.

Border concepts The core of the matter is also hidden in language. Political scientist Tamara Metze of the TSPB is investigating ‘border concepts’: terms like ‘agropark’, ‘agro-flat’, ‘youth domain’ or ‘protein corridor’. These terms represent policy choices which their makers would like several different groups to support. For example, the ‘agropark’ is supposed to connect farmers, logistics companies and food processing companies in a sustainable manner, and

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Understanding the drama of democracy Quite recently political scientists and public administration experts have taken interpretive analysis of politics, public administration and policy making to a new level. A few hundred – mainly European – researchers from a variety of disciplines joined each other in a community associated with this approach, starting with a conference in Birmingham in 2006, organized by Professor Dvora Yanow of the University of Amsterdam.

In early July 2012 the 7th International Conference on Interpretive Policy Analysis will be held at Tilburg University. Under the title Understanding the Drama of Democracy, researchers will discuss the phenomenon that, in our modern network society, the position of politicians and policy makers in itself is no longer enough to make them credible. They have to substantiate their credibility to convince the media, the public, civic organizations, etc. How do they do this, how can it be effective, and how can interpretive research cater to this?

For more information contact Merlijn van Hulst (m.j.vanhulst@uvt.nl) or Tamara Metze (t.metze@uvt.nl).

the ‘protein corridor’ along the A1 between the Dutch cities of Amersfoort and Enschede – created to stimulate the sector in question – is supposed to do the same for the producers of meat and poultry products. But the ‘protein corridor’ proved to be unacceptable to the environment and animal welfare organizations involved, because in their view food production should not only be about the production of products containing protein, but about many other things as well. The fact that the phrase ‘protein corridor’ became a topic of discussion was a sign of the power struggle between the stakeholders involved.

Public administration and policy making are full of controversial terms like these, which look harmless but conceal entire worlds.

Words like ‘concrete’, ‘feasibility’ and ‘expertise’ are deliberately used to bring parties together in relation to certain objectives in an ostensibly neutral way. According to Metze, the confusion which then arises as to the exact meaning of such terms exposes the core of the matter in question. “In the Netherlands we are very good at using border concepts. We scarcely reflect on what they really mean, out of fear we might have to engage in conflict.” Her recommendation is that, to avoid confusion or worse, it would be better if the various parties were to define concrete results. But to do this you have to create a safe environment and prevent real conflicts from arising by means of discussion techniques.

Corine Schouten

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PUBLICATIONS

‘The government needs to have more contact with religious communities’ Classic principles such as the separation of church and state and the freedom of religion are shared by everyone, but it seems they cannot provide a solid foundation for the future. In her book 'Overheid en godsdienst' [‘Government and Religion’] Endowed Professor of Religion, Rule of Law and Society Sophie van Bijsterveld provides new points of reference for the Dutch government in its approach to religions.

Van Bijsterveld shows that over the past few decades the predominant view of the relationship between the government and religion has been too one-sided.

Religion has been regarded as purely a private matter and the appropriate attitude for the government was considered to be neutrality. Discussions today are often still based on this view. But religion has not only personal, but also social and public aspects. For instance – religion is an important factor in providing cohesion and a sense of purpose in our society.

According to Van Bijsterveld it is important for the government to acknowledge this if it is to choose the

right approach. Some examples of the issues involved are whether the government should support the building of prayer spaces or what degree of loyalty it should expect from religions; but also how much room should be allowed for controversial statements about religion or to what extent religions should now be treated as equal.

More involvement Instead of a predominant emphasis on neutrality, more involvement is needed. In Van Bijsterveld’s opinion regular and effective contact with church communities and religious streams in all their diversity is important for both national and local government authorities.

This also demands a less forced attitude towards financial relationships with communities.

Sophie van Bijsterveld, 'Overheid en Godsdienst.

Herijking van een onderlinge relatie' [‘Government and Religion: Recalibration of a Relationship’]. Wolf Legal Publishers, 2009.

Every music has its heaven Music entrances people, its beauty moves them.

For many, music provides access to ‘the sacred’.

Why is music so important as a way of reaching transcendence? Does music have religious meaning in itself, or is this meaning created in a social, cultural or ritual context? In the publication ‘Elke muziek heeft haar hemel’ [‘Every Music Has its Heaven’] philosophers, musicologists, liturgical scholars and theologians reflect on these questions. With contributions from authors including Martin Hoondert, Professor of Music and Christianity at the Tilburg School of Humanities ('How God gets into music'. Een sociologische en

cultuurwetenschappelijke benadering van muziek [‘How God Gets into music: a sociological and cultural approach to music’] ) and Willem Marie Speelman, research assistant at the Franciscan Study Centre in Utrecht (‘Woorden kunnen worden verstaan, muziek moet worden gevolgd. Taal en muziek als fundamentele categorieën van de liturgie [‘Words can be understood, music has to be followed: language and music as fundamental categories of the liturgy’]).

‘Elke muziek heeft haar hemel. De religieuze betekenis van muziek.’ [‘Every Music Has Its Heaven: The Religious Meaning of Music’]. Published by Damon, 2009.

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‘The more hopeless the situation, the more powerful the resources people find in themselves’ Cancer or crib death; a suicide case in the family or among friends; caring for an incurably ill child.

To find a sense of meaning and purpose in such deeply distressing life experiences, many people still seek comfort and support in religion and spirituality. Therapists and spiritual carers can use this spiritual dimension to enhance patients’ health – or at least their quality of life. On the other hand, religion can also be a burden and exacerbate mental problems. “Why has God forsaken me?” people ask.

Clinical psychologist Rien van Uden, Professor of the Psychology of Religion at Tilburg University, is very interested in the healing effect of various rituals. “As a Master’s student I did research on

Younger people are less inclined to turn to organized spiritual care

the healing effect of meditation on insomnia,” says Van Uden. “For instance, I tried to persuade GPs that during their consultations, they could suggest meditation exercises instead of prescribing pills and powders. This is how I ended up in the field of religion and mental health.”

Van Uden obtained a PhD with research on the role of religion and rituals in the mourning process. “When your partner

dies, it’s not simply the case that religion helps and Jesus saves,” he says. “Sometimes religion helps, but sometimes it’s a burden. And sometimes you have to turn to completely different sources of help. People cannot simply be labeled ‘religious’ or ‘nonreligious’. Each one of us has a whole religious package hidden away somewhere, and depending on what happens to us we can use some components of that package in a crisis – or not.”

Research conducted by Van Uden and his associate Jos Pieper revealed that both in outpatient mental health care and in hospitals, patients experience not only the benefits, but also the burdens of their religious ‘baggage’. In the early 1990s, when clients at the Regional Institution for Outpatient Mental Healthcare in the Dutch cities of Heerlen and Zwolle were asked if their religion or philosophy of life helped them to cope with their problems, 39 percent of them replied that it did. This group consisted mainly of older people, people who said

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they had a personal relationship with God, regular churchgoers and orthodox members of the Reformed Church. However, 36 percent of those questioned said that their religion or philosophy of life actually made their problems worse.

Religion helps more In a predominantly Catholic psychiatric clinic in Venray (1999) and in a Reformed psychiatric hospital in Bos en Duin (2000), 54 percent of those questioned said that their religion or philosophy of life had had a positive influence on their mental problems, while 16 percent said it had a negative influence. Some of the positive aspects people mentioned were support and a sense of purpose in dealing with problems, a sense of security in their relationship with God, the social support of spiritual carers or fellow believers, and the reinforcing effects of rituals.

Younger people – under 45 – were less inclined to turn to organized spiritual care such as church attendance or talking to spiritual carers. The researchers concluded that patients in institutions

The challenge is to learn to accept the inevitable see their life situation as being relatively immutable. They cannot solve their problems directly and must therefore learn to cope with them emotionally in a different way.

The fact that religious rituals can provide additional support was shown by research among people who went on a pilgrimage. Van Uden questioned them before and after their journey. “After a pilgrimage, for instance to Lourdes or Santiago de Compostella, we see significantly better ratings on scales that measure degrees of depression or anxiety. This also applied to the control group that went to Southern France for a holiday, without any religious motivations. But religion helped more,” says Van Uden. “Perhaps the confrontation with so many fellow sufferers helps to put your own suffering into perspective, to give meaning to the pointlessness of your own confused situation and to tap new inner resources.”

Let it be People also find ways of coping with crises without God. By ‘coping’ we mean endeavoring to get a grip on one’s situation in the face of physical or mental problems. Coping entails taking action, such as seeking aid or information. But coping also means trying to get your own emotions under control; the challenge is to learn to accept the inevitable. Van Uden is investigating the various religious coping styles people adopt in crises.

In his standard work The Psychology of Religion and Coping (1997) the American expert on the psychology of religion, Kenneth Pargament, distinguished three religious coping styles: you can put your fate entirely in God’s hands,

you can ‘collaborate’ with God, or you can adopt a ‘self-directing style’ to make use of religion in times of crisis. However, this commonly used three-way distinction does not work satisfactorily in the secularized Dutch situation.

Van Uden therefore developed a new measuring instrument: the Receptivity Scale, which factors in a more impersonal God and the fact that people do not always focus directly on problem-solving, with or without God. Van Uden: “The main thing is being open to solutions that present themselves. You know the old Beatles song: When I find myself in times of trouble, mother Mary comes to me. Speaking words of wisdom: let it be. This ‘let it be’ style means that you have faith that in difficult times a solution will always turn up. The characteristic element here is an attitude of faith, which is typical of a religious coping style, but without constantly seeking the intervention of a personal god. This style of dealing with problems fits in better with Dutch culture.”

Patchwork quilt People who are told they have lung cancer have an 85 percent chance of dying within five years. What religious coping styles do these patients adopt?

That is what PhD student Sjaak Körver is investigating. After his academic training in theology, Körver worked for nearly 20 years as a chaplain in hospitals and a supervisor of post-academic training programs for priests. “It

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struck me that in crisis situations people often draw on a completely individual mix of religious sources.

They make up their own stories, not just from what they hear in church, but also from what they get out of other people’s stories, from TV, newspapers, or women’s magazines. You see a patchwork quilt of religious beliefs. People take helpful elements from a variety of sources. One of the most popular is performing magic rituals.”

A second group adopts modern spiritual practices such as meditation or setting up altars or holy places in their own homes, for instance with a photo of a beloved person who has died, a rosary, an image of a saint given by the person’s grandmother, together with an incense burner and a bunch of flowers to go with them.

A third group tries to adopt a more natural lifestyle, with long walks in nature and perhaps a macrobiotic diet, in an effort to find a connection with the greater cosmos around them in order to restore the balance of their lives.

The typical feature of the fourth

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grip on reality, they resort to magic as a control instrument. And ultimately, every church ceremony has something magical and something spiritual.”

Ostensibly there are no clear correlations between personal characteristics and the allocation of the four coping styles referred to above. However, it is striking that, as a group, lung cancer patients are not more depressed or anxious than the normal population, regardless of which coping style they favor.

Körver: “I was very surprised at this. Just under 30 percent are

With the help of lung specialists in twelve hospitals in the Dutch provinces of Brabant and Limburg, Körver distributed questionnaires.

About 250 completed Sometimes you see Catholic and Hindu images questionnaires were returned. side by side on a house altar Nearly all the respondents had a Catholic background. Their more anxious or depressed than group is a need to feel connected average age was 65 and most of average, but that also applies to with a deeper surrounding reality them had a limited education the population as a whole. In as a foundation for their lives.

– lung cancer is a poor man’s interviews it struck me over and The idea is that there must be disease. Fewer than 20 percent over again how down-to-earth ‘something more’ than family, described themselves as regular churchgoers. Interestingly enough, friends and daily work to give one’s most people’s response to this tremendous confrontation is. life a deeper meaning. this led to a very differentiated Perhaps that’s precisely because picture. the message is so intense. It’s as Körver made a four-way distinction Magic though they think: you can do in the ways the respondents “In reality things are not so clearwhatever you like, but it won’t coped with their disease. The cut,” says Körver. “Sometimes change anything. The more first important group were those you see Catholic and Hindu hopeless the situation is, the who practiced ‘Catholic popular images side by side on a house more powerful the resources devotion’, for instance lighting altar. People use religion, magic people find in themselves in such candles, veneration of the Virgin and spirituality in many different circumstances turn out to be.

Mary and visiting the Peerke ways – whereas spiritual carers People are much more resilient Donders chapel. One elderly still often operate on the basis than you might think.” farmer Körver talked to had the of fairly fixed ideas on religion. images of four saints on a cabinet In academic circles, magic has Marion de Boo and addressed each of them negative overtones, but magic is separately in his evening prayers religion’s elder sister. When people before going to bed. are finding it difficult to keep a

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research portrait

Each cultural and religious tradition adds a layer Name: Position: Institute: Research:

Logan Sparks Researcher Institute of Ritual and Liturgical Studies; Holy Ground project Religious hybridity and shared pilgrimage

“

Not far from the Mediterranean coast, close to the Turkish city Selçuk, one can find the ancient city of Ephesus. Once, in the first century BCE, it was the second largest city of the Roman Empire. Ephesus was famed for its Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Due to its rich history, there are Greek and Turkish, Christian and Islamic remains to be found, such as The House of the Virgin Mary, or Meryem Ana Evi as it is called in Turkish.

Meryem Ana Evi functions as the starting point for my research. It is the religious hybridity of this place in which I am interested, as it is shared by pilgrims with different backgrounds in religion and culture. How does shared pilgrimage take place? And why? How then do people honour a religious figure like the Virgin Mary, albeit differently understood?

I have already investigated other shared pilgrimage places, such as the tomb of the Persian sufi poet Rumi in Konya (Turkey). What we see here is quite an interesting mixture of people, Muslims and Christians, but also tourists with a vague religious identity, who became interested in Rumi because the pop star Madonna used his poems in her songs.

I have investigated the multi-ritualization of sacred space via ethnographic, qualitative fieldwork.

The reason for my research was to widen the typical kind of CNN view on religion. The media highlight conflicts and the differences between people. A frozen idea about religion is communicated, as if religion

would be something pure and unmixed. But if we look at the friction points only, we miss the grey area that can be found at places like the the House of the Virgin Mary.

More refreshing than to emphasize the differences, is to look at the historical facts and factors ‘outside’ the religious rituals. As a consequence, boundaries between religions suddenly appear to be much more contingent.

Then such a place of shared pilgrimage can be regarded as a collage. Each cultural and religious tradition adds a layer. And each person, or pilgrim, adds his or her perspective to this collage.

Two notions in particular are important in my research project. Firstly, the role of imagination and secondly, the role of etiquette. One needs imagination in order to share a place of a saintly figure like the Virgin Mary. The key is a certain elasticity of symbolism for tracing lineages of imagery. This way the Greek goddess Artemis can be connected with Mary in the Bible, and with Maryem in the Koran.

Furthermore, certain codes or rules are needed to share a holy place. In the Islamic culture hospitality is seen as a very important value. On the one hand one should never reject a guest, but on the other hand the guest should not enjoy the hospitality for more than three days. For example: in a Greek Church in Istanbul I saw a Muslim woman wearing a headscarf enter the church with her daughter. She said to the Greek caretaker ‘I am a guest’ and he nodded in acknowledgement.

[Meike Oosterwijk]

”

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research portrait

‘Washing people’s feet is also a ritual’ Name: Position: School: Research:

Martijn de Ruijter PhD candidate School of Humanities, Department of Culture Studies The ritual repertoires of elderly people in care or nursing homes

“

I asked a nurse at the nursing home where I am doing research if she regarded washing the feet of a resident, a client, as a ritual? She said no, she was just doing her job. She was washing one of the many feet that had to be washed to meet the quota for that morning.

In my PhD thesis I am investigating how elderly people’s repertoires of rituals change when they go to a care or nursing home. What I hope to show is that in the final phase of life rituals are still very important.

Much can be gained from this in the care sector. If we wash people’s feet purely to meet a quota, then we are putting care – in the sense of concern for our fellow human beings and solidarity – at stake.

Rituals already fascinated me when I was studying theology. Everyone has a whole repertoire of rituals, whether it’s celebrating birthdays, Mardi Gras, lighting candles, or attending Mass. But when someone ends up in a nursing home, that repertoire changes.

The location then determines the form of the rituals.

For instance, you may not be allowed to light a candle in your own room because of safety regulations. I am documenting and analyzing changes like this, in order to identify what impact they have on the people themselves.

For my project I worked for a year as a volunteer in two different care facilities. I kept a logbook of my observa-

tions and notes. I am now structuring these notes so that at a later stage I will be able to interview the residents in a more targeted manner. The first thing that struck me is the oppression I felt at these locations. It’s a wrenching feeling. I was only able to breathe freely again when I had left. This oppressive feeling has to do with freedom. You and I can just nip out to the supermarket or the hairdresser. But that option does not exist for nursing home residents. Their lives are reduced to a fraction of what they were.

The residents themselves are also aware that they have been literally pushed to the margins of society. The facilities are paid to care for them, but that care has very little to do with society really caring about them.

How often residents thanked me just for giving them a bit of personal attention!

When it comes to life orientation in the twenty-first century, my research shows that the way these people are treated has changed. Nowadays everything has to be quantifiable. Fifty years ago people’s feet were washed because they were dirty; now quotas have to be met. The increase in figures is threatening to lead to a decrease in personal attention. Paying more attention to rituals can be very beneficial. Washing other people’s feet is a ritual par excellence; it symbolizes intimate care, concern and solidarity. That cannot be expressed in figures alone. [Meike Oosterwijk]

”

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PUBLICATIONs

Prayer course provides support for psychiatric patients Chronic psychiatric patients may benefit from a prayer course. This has been shown by Peter de Rijk, a theologian and spiritual carer who developed the prayer course himself in response to patients’ questions.

Chronic psychiatric patients often ask spiritual carers how to pray and what they can expect from prayer. In our present-day, largely secular society, there are many people who no longer know how to pray.

To help meet these requests, theologian and spiritual carer Peter de Rijk developed a course called ‘Bidden: hoe doe je dat?’ [‘Praying: how is it done?’]. In nine sessions people explore prayer and develop a way of praying that suits them. The course is not tied to a specific religion, but is based on the idea that praying is commu-

nicating with something or someone divine. The goal of the course is for patients to be able to make better use of their religion to enhance their well-being and recovery.

It turned out that after completing the course the participants were better able to pray and derived more satisfaction from prayer. Moreover, they not only found more support in their religion, but also sought less support from other people.

PhD thesis: ‘Bidden in de GGZ. Ontwikkeling en evaluatie van een cursus ‘bidden’ als interventie in de geestelijke gezondheidszorg’ [Prayer in Mental Health Care: Development and Evaluation of a Prayer Course as a Mental Health Care Intervention’]. Published by Uitgeverij Eburon.

Caring for others in Judaism, Christianity and Islam Caring for others is an essential part of the Abrahamic religions. The God of Patriarch Abraham calls on his disciples – Jews, Christians and Islamites – to look after people in need, both within their own communities and outside them. This book shows what words those religions use for this concept. On the basis of one keyword the authors describe social care in their own tradition.

The volume also shows how these words influence the

organization of care, believers’ actions and society’s attitude towards caring.

‘Chesed, caritas, diaconie, zakaat. ‘Zorg voor de naaste’ in jodendom, christendom en islam’. [‘Chesed, Charity, Parish Welfare, Zakat: “Caring for Others” in Judaism, Christianity and Islam’], by Erik Sengers (VU University Amsterdam), Bart Koet (Tilburg University) (eds.).

Published in Delft by Uitgeverij Eburon, 2010.

The first Christian polemics against Islam Two of the first great Christian spokesmen in the debate between Christians and Muslims were St John of Damascus (± 675-750) and his younger contemporary Theodore Abu- Qurrah. They wrote a series of compelling short pieces, comparing Islam and Christianity. The texts center around the controversy, but were written at a time when relations between Christians and Muslims were not really under pressure. This controversy is a fascinating interreligious battle of words. It has been trans-

lated and annotated by Marcel Poorthuis, Professor of Interreligious Dialogue, and Michiel Op de Coul, classicist and guest researcher at the Tilburg School of Theology.

‘Johannes van Damascus & Theodorus Abu- Qurra - De eerste christelijke polemiek met de islam’ [‘St John of Damascus & Theodore Abu- Qurrah: The First Christian Polemics against Islam’]. Published in Zoetermeer by Uitgeverij Meinema, 2011.

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The moral wiring of robots Will computers or robots soon be able to do everything human beings can do: think for themselves, feel empathy, learn, make important decisions? Definitely, say computer scientists. Perhaps, say philosophers. Whatever the case may be: it’s high time for ethical and legal rules for robots.

Castles, knights and pawns: the ornaments in Jaap van den Herik’s study immediately reveal what this Professor of Computer Science at the Tilburg Center for Cognition and Communication (TiCC) likes to do in his spare

A computer is not susceptible to flattery or a play for sympathy, so its judgment will be more impartial time. When he was a student in the 1960s Van den Herik played chess at a high level, he says enthusiastically and not without pride. He even participated in

the world championships for students. But he met so many top chess players there that he realized he would never really be the best; “competition is in my DNA,” he admits. So he decided to throw himself into his mathematics studies again.

Just at that time a new specialism was emerging: artificial intelligence. Groundbreaking developments in computer science stimulated the imaginations of many academics: computers and robots might well become much smarter than people. An interesting test case was soon found: could scientists develop a computer that could beat a chess grandmaster?

Van den Herik was one of the first

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– and at that time one of the few – to be absolutely convinced that it was possible.

Competitive as he was, he and his team developed a program that participated three times in the world computer chess championships and he joined battle with skeptics about how strong computers’ skills would be in the future. Van den Herik: “In 1979 I made three bets with chess player Hans Böhm, with 500 guilders at stake in each. I said that by 1990 there would be a computer that could attain an Elo rating of 2600 – that is, one that could play at grandmaster level. In 1995 the best computer would even reach an Elo rating of 2650, and in 2000 there would be a chess computer that would beat the world champion. Well, I lost the first bet in 1990. In ‘95 a chess computer got a rating of 2633; so strictly speaking I lost again, but everyone agreed that I was the moral winner, because that rating still exceeded all expectations.

And in 1997 Deep Blue won from Kasparov, which meant that I won the decisive bet from Böhm.”

Philosopher of technology Bibi van den Berg, who works as a researcher at the Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology and Society (TILT), is certainly not an avowed

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Why wouldn’t you be able to program a certain degree of empathy? skeptic like Böhm. She follows the progress of artificial intelligence and robotics with interest and admiration. Nevertheless, she wants to temper the glow of Van den Herik’s triumph a little. “Of course, it’s clever that a computer can beat a chess grandmaster. But the initial idea of artificial intelligence had much higher pretensions: in the 1950s people thought that by 2000 robots would be smarter and better than human beings in every way. That hasn’t happened, not by a long chalk.”

“What computers actually do,” explains Van den Berg, “is calculate with ones and zeroes. They’re extremely good at that. That explains their success with chess, because really the crucial thing there is to calculate the possibilities. But of course calculation is only one aspect of our intelligence.

As soon as scientists tried to get computers to do things that didn’t even seem all that complicated or intelligent, things went wrong.

Moving, walking, a simple conversation – they couldn’t do it.

However clever many applications may seem, all things considered robotics is still in its infancy. It is very difficult to explain real world knowledge to a machine, because you have to make all kinds of implicit knowledge explicit.

That’s what robot makers come up against all the time. We can’t even explain to a robot what the

difference is between the floor and a wall, and that you have to open the door first if you want to leave the room. So maybe you can beat a chess grandmaster; but if you can’t even walk across a room independently, what are we talking about?”

Of course, she adds, artificial intelligence is still making progress – according to Van den Berg in military applications in particular. “It’s impressive and also scary to see how the US uses robot explorers in Afghanistan.

But those robots are not ‘clever’ in the sense that they can think for themselves; they are modeled on animal intelligence. That has turned out to be very successful.

But the goals originally set for artificial intelligence – the externalization of human intelligence, even breaking free from our mortal bodies – have been lowered

However, Jaap van den Herik doesn’t let himself be checkmated so easily. According to him it certainly is necessary to copy the human brain – or rather to improve artificial intelligence to such an extent that it surpasses human capabilities. “Computers make fewer errors than people. It’s much better to listen to a computer than to a human being,” he says.

The chess computer was really just a finger exercise in artificial intelligence: Van den Herik foresees applications with a much deeper social impact. “In the course of my career I’ve worked on a variety of applications. For instance, in relation to questions such as: can computers administer justice? Can a computer write an auditing report for a company? And even: can a computer make a decision relating to euthanasia? In all of these cases I think: why not? Judges, auditors

We must be prepared for the possibility of independently thinking and feeling robots again and again. Nobody at all is still thinking about those original goals. And why should they? This whole exercise has filled us with so much awe for how our own amazing brains are put together that you wonder if it’s really necessary to copy them.”

and doctors make assessments on the basis of information you can also put into a computer program.

Only – the computer is much better able to calculate all the possibilities. Besides, a computer is not susceptible to flattery or a play for sympathy, so that its judgment will be more impartial.”

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Van den Herik is prepared for Van den Berg’s argument that intelligence is more than just unthinking calculation. Of course, he says, there are such things as gut feeling – intuition. Experience.

And – not without importance to judges and doctors, for instance: empathy and a moral compass.

Van den Herik: “But why wouldn’t you be able to program these things? Take intuition. Intuition is also knowledge – knowledge we have gained through experience and stored in our unconscious or subconscious. On certain occasions we have access to this knowledge, without knowing how. But all of that knowledge can certainly be programmed in a computer.

That is already happening. We can program what we call heuristics – rules based on experience.

And we can make computers with self-teaching capacities. Or take empathy: empathy is also based on arguments. You can give reasons why you should have empathy with a perpetrator. Why wouldn’t you be able to program a certain degree of empathy? To put it more strongly – I’m telling you it’s going to be done.”

Bibi van den Berg is not convinced. “Some people immediately say it can’t be done; others, like Jaap van den Herik say: give us a couple of years and we’ll do it. And I say: the jury’s out. We’ll have

to wait and see. It’s certainly too simple just to say, ‘What’s morality? We then look it up in Kant and read: morality is following rules.

Well, we can certainly implement that! You just draw up some rules for the computer, and that’s that.’

The real world is much too fuzzy for that. Computer and robot builders acknowledge that and are constantly running up against it: reality is always a bit more complicated than you think.”

Nevertheless, there is one thing on which Van den Berg and Van den Herik are in complete agreement: we must certainly be prepared for the possibility of independently thinking and feeling robots, because serious work is being done to produce them. If they arrive on the scene, they will confront our society with important ethical and legal dilemmas. For instance – who is responsible for a robot which is acting autonomously? The problem, as Van den Berg explains, is that robots are such complex systems that they never have just one maker, but several teams of makers, which will often make it difficult if not impossible to point to one responsible party. Apart from that, Van den Herik often refers to the self-teaching capacity of modern robots. “Because of that, there will be things in the robot which the maker has not put there. If I lose

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The important thing is for robots to understand that we have certain social codes a game of chess from you, I can’t blame your father, can I?” This means that somehow or other complex computers and robots will have to be given a special legal status. But before that, some serious thought will have to be given to the moral wiring of robots. Van den Berg stresses that this issue is completely separate from the more philosophical question of whether robots can really be moral beings.

“The important thing is for robots to understand one way or another that we have certain social codes, and to conform to them. What ideas they have about that, whether they have any ideas about that – who cares? Ultimately I don’t think the question of whether a robot can truly have empathy or morals is all that interesting. We can never know that anyway. I really don’t care whether a robot has the same moral intuitions as I do. So long as a robot can distinguish between the enemy and an innocent citizen in a war situation, I’ll be happy.”

Anton de Wit