Reasonably Religious: believing in a secular world 
Een nieuw UGent-onderzoek toont dat religieuze én uitgesproken areligieuze sollicitanten minder kans maken op een jobgesprek — niet omdat ze slechter beoordeeld worden, maar omdat recruiters vrezen dat collega's en klanten liever niet met hen samenwerken. Als ondernemer en bisschop herken ik dat patroon uit eigen ervaring, en pleit ik ervoor om religie eindelijk even ernstig te nemen als andere...
'Ik geloof wel in iets' klinkt onschuldig, maar is vooral comfortabel — een vaag universum stelt geen eisen, een persoonlijke God wel. We verwarren in Vlaanderen bovendien vaak 'wil ik nog iets met de kerk te maken hebben' met 'bestaat God', terwijl dat twee andere vragen zijn. 'Iets' is een prima beginpunt, zolang het geen eindpunt wordt waarachter je je verstopt om nooit door te vragen.
Is Gen Z massively returning to church? The numbers show not, but something else is going on. There is no mass revival, but a reinterpretation: the group of young believers is smaller, but experiences faith much more consciously, individually and visibly in society. This makes faith step by step a normal topic in public discourse again.
Whoever chooses 'she at home, he at work' nowadays quickly gets the label 'tradwife' – with the implication that our church might have something to do with it. This piece investigates what is true about that: research into happy religious women, what faith does to men, and the role of fathers in transmitting faith – including the question of whether this is not a placebo. No plea for one model...
In 'The monsters of our time', Imam Khalid Benhaddou flawlessly dissects our divided society, but ultimately chooses a secular way out. A missed opportunity. Where he safely stores religion as a private matter, I have a radically different proposal: as a society, we need not less, but more space for religions as a shared foundation.
Science measures, but does not value – and yet the abortion debate often resorts to facts and majorities instead of moral questions. Faith does belong at the table, provided it speaks with reasons and not with authority. Only then can we face the deepest question: what is a human being worth?
Julien De Wit wrote an intelligent book about resilience and reinvention in times of crisis. It's almost right. But something essential is missing — and that absence is precisely the blind spot of our time.
Apostle Gerrit W. Gong dedicates an extensive video to AI, with clear warnings about what technology can never replace: prayer, growth through effort, true friendship, the silence in nature. I believe one should pay attention to the triangle between God, others, and oneself, where no algorithm should interfere.
Niels De Nutte concludes in De Morgen that 689 adult baptisms do not constitute a religious revival. His figures are correct, his conclusion is not. Those who choose faith today choose against the wind — and that makes that choice qualitatively different than forty years ago. 7,000 requested Jesus figurines, a neighborhood that almost doubles, growing smaller churches: these are signals under the radar...
Three radio presenters smash religious images and don't see the problem — until a journalist asks one simple question. An honest look at why Christians in Flanders no longer guard their own boundaries, and what happens if you leave that for too long. With a plea for the healthy middle ground: strong enough to laugh, but clear enough to state what you stand for.
Religious education remains something that can bring enormous value. Dismissing this could lead to regrettable results.
I do not believe in a static faith but in an 'open canon' where God still gives new insights. Because we ourselves are imperfect people who are still very much under construction, the church must also continue to evolve to effectively bring us to Christ. For me, this makes religion not a rigid view of the past, but a dynamic process of infinite growth.
Against the popular narrative, Christianity is growing worldwide, with 'demanding' faith communities like our church reporting record numbers of baptisms because people are looking for meaning. However, like many secular organizations, we are struggling with a 'commitment crisis', where the growth of active congregations lags behind the enormous influx of new members. The crucial lesson...
The 'Light the World' Giving Machines of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have raised nearly $50 million for global charity since 2017. This year (2025), the machines are in a record number of 126 cities in 21 countries, including nine new countries. The question remains why this successful and pure charitable initiative faces closed doors in our country...
The miniseries ‘Surviving Mormonism’ paints a dark picture of the church. But members worldwide are responding en masse with #ThrivingMormonism — showing that faith is not about surviving, but about thriving in connection and and goodness.
'An Inconvenient Faith' onderzoekt de uitdagingen van het mormonisme, van historische controverses tot hedendaagse sociale kwesties. De serie benadrukt dat geloof imperfect is, dat het belangrijk is om je eigen vragen te stellen en persoonlijke openbaring te zoeken. Het moedigt gelovigen aan om in de kerk te blijven en te helpen bij de verbetering ervan, in plaats van te vertrekken. De...
In recent months, it has been almost impossible to have a conversation without artificial intelligence being brought up. At work, in the media, in classrooms, even around the kitchen table, people are talking about ChatGPT, Gemini, and all their variants. But what happens when that technology also penetrates our faith practice? What if someone who has to give a speech in church thinks: 'Let AI do it...'
Religion is a hot topic these days. No, that is not my merit but can be entirely attributed to Islam and the fear reaction to it. Especially now that some nitwit wants to establish an Islamic party with the introduction of Sharia as the ultimate goal and segregated public transport as an intermediate step. In any case, it prompted the editors of De Tijd to a remarkable...
It is always similar things that make me go into defense mode regarding my faith. Again today. A simple tweet about how dreadful and idiotic faith is hurts me, because I believe faith can also be beautiful. Could the College for Human Rights consider whether children do not have the right to grow up without religious...
This week I read an interesting article on Trouw.nl with the title “Is there one reality behind all branches of science?”. I was immediately attracted by this title because I have been proclaiming for years that religion and science are two visions of one and the same reality. So I was immediately curious why this question was asked within the framework of science...
Reasonably Religious: believing in a secular world 
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