Reasonably Religious: believing in a secular world 
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.
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 lack is precisely the blind spot of our time.
In my latest reading adventure, I went through 'Science & Religion' by Patrick Loobuyck, and boy, what a book! Loobuyck remains surprisingly neutral as he explores all angles of the discussion between faith and science. This is not a book that takes sides; it is rather a guide for anyone looking for solid arguments for their choice of faith or science. In short, a...
Is the Ghelamco arena, the football temple in Ghent for first division team KAA Gent, built illegally or not? I would never have asked myself that question without having read the book “The illegal Ghelamco arena” by Ignace Vandewalle. The title seems to immediately provide the answer to the question, but in fact the author more or less leaves the judgment to the reader. I say more or less...
March 22, 2016 – a bomb explodes at the Belgian national airport in Zaventem, quickly followed by another bomb. A few meters from that bomb stood several Mormon missionaries, ready to wave one of them goodbye on his way home. Mason Wells is one of them and the blow slings his watch from his wrist and his shoe from his foot in less than one second. And that while he already...
Father Damien is a household name in our country. In 2005 he was even chosen as the Greatest Belgian. Everyone in our primary school receives a lesson about how this young priest went on a mission and eventually chose to serve the outcasts of the world: the lepers on Kalaupapa, a secluded promontory on the Hawaiian island of Molokai. But he was not the only one...
With God is a refugee, David Dessin has written a must-read for everyone who calls themselves Christian and lives in Flanders (or by extension in Europe). With the starting point of mapping the Christian existence of refugees in Flanders, he has however made a more than meritorious attempt to provide a description of the diversity of Christianity...
In his book “About God,” Etienne Vermeersch extensively discusses this question and provides a detailed answer, based on – according to him – pure rationality, concluding “no, the God of Christians does not exist.” Vermeersch has a special relationship with God. He was raised Catholic and even entered the Jesuit order...
Beste Jean-Marie, Vergeef het mij dat ik u amicaal aanspreek, maar na het lezen van je boek “Vrank en vrij” heb ik het gevoel dat ik je beter heb leren kennen, als iemand waarmee ik graag uren in een bruine kroeg zou doorbrengen om samen te filosoferen én toogpraat te verkopen, de ene maal grondig discussiëren over nuances in onze verschillende meningen, de andere keer schaterlachend vast...
Ik zeg dit niet makkelijk, maar dit is een boek dat je moet gelezen hebben. “Ik was een van hen” is het relaas van Maarten Zeegers die na zijn studies Arabisch in Damascus terugkeert naar de gettowijken van Den Haag – noem het gerust het Nederlandse Molenbeerk – en drie jaar lang undercover leeft onder de moslims. Ik heb het boek quasi in één ruk uitgelezen. Voor...
Reasonably Religious: believing in a secular world 