The difference between ‘True Christian Enlightenment and Obscurantism’ Antipapism in the Netherlands between 1795 and 1830

In 1795, religious freedom was proclaimed in the Netherlands, starting an emancipation process among Dutch Catholics. Nevertheless, antipapist expressions continued to be widespread in the Dutch public. Catholicism was seen as a superstition, unenlightened and unreasonable and this stereotype applied to both, Catholics at home, in the Netherlands, as well as to countries with predominantly Catholic populations. The intensity of antipapism was related to the growing fear of Roman Catholicism's increasing power. In view of political and social events during 1795 and 1830, popular expressions of antipapism changed, as can be witnessed in the protestant cultural journal ‘Vaderlandsche Letteroefeningen’ which is examined in this article. The author pleads for a combined historical and psychological approach for studying intergroup relationships and stereotyping

Emancipation · Enlightenment · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Protestantism · Sociology · Stereotype (UML · Superstition · Theology · Academic Freedom and Politics · Gender Studies · History · Law · Philosophy · Psychology · Religion and Society Interactions · Religious studies · Social and Intergroup Psychology · Social Psychology · Religious Studies