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Religious Beliefs and Spirituality in Netherlands

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Up to the present, Spain’s influence in the country of Netherlands still remains as majority of the people in the country practice Christianity. Remember that the Spanish invaded and conquered the country in the 16th century, spread Christianity throughout the Netherlands, and stopped other religions from dominating their own. In 1568, however, the Dutch people lead by William Orange assaulted and revolted against the Spanish rule, resulting to the fast growing number of Protestants going against the spread of Christianity. After almost a hundred years, in the year 1648, Spain granted independence to the Netherlands, but Christianity still remains as a religious practice of its people.

However, a growing number of the population of Netherlands has not been practicing any religion at all. Latest statistics show that almost half of the population (42%) are non-religious and do not belong to a particular religious group. Moreover, those people who belong to the Christian and Catholic groups have been practicing other religions, or do not practice any at all.

Other religions in the country aside from Catholicism include Protestantism. The largest denomination of the Protestants in the Netherlands belongs to the Protestant Church of the Netherlands. This group is formed by merging 3 groups together: Reformed Churches in the Netherlands, Dutch Reformed Church, and Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Islam also has a growing number of followers and practitioners with almost 6% of the country’s population. This religion spread in the country because of the growing number of immigrants from Islamic countries as well as from former Dutch colonies where some people practice Islam.