Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Dutch Elections

Today the Dutch vote for a new Parliament and Cabinet.

I must say I really like the parliamentary system. Actually, the Dutch system is offically called Proportional Representation. See Wikipedia for the differences.

There are quite a variety of political parties, so you have a good chance that you can get people in the parliament who reflect your own views, even if that is only one person.

It also forces parties to work together. If no party gets a majority of seats in the Parliament (and that almost never happens), then parties need to work together to form a majority and construct the Cabinet.

Even for Christians in Holland there are a couple of good choices to make, in which you can think about moral, economic, political and environmental issues.

I will never forget that a relative once asked me, "Well Norm, what's it like living in a communist country?"

Holland gets a lot of bad press in the U.S.A. of the Religious Right. Most of it, like this question, rooted in ignorance and fear.

Don't get me wrong - there are a number of things about Holland that drive me absolutely crazy.

But the windmills, tulips and wooden shoes are really cute.

1 comment:

Sarah R. said...

Keep us updated. I would like to hear how things turn out.
I wish that we had more choices in America than just between Republican or Democrats. Aaron calls it a choice between two rich guys.
Most Americans that I know think that that Holland is a communist country because you pay more taxes. Anyone one in government trying to part an American and their money is considered a communist I think.
No country and no political system is perfect. I think it has to do with something called "sin."