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The paper reports on the empirical findings of the four waves (1981, 1990, 1999, 2008) of the European Values Study in the Netherlands. We will focus on the trajectories of change with regard to religion and explore whether secularization continues or whether the trends in Dutch society have to be understood in terms of neo-secularization. The neo-secularization thesis states that there is a religious decline at the societal level, but not at the individual level.
In the paper we will describe the main trends in religious beliefs and practices in the Netherlands and the causes and consequences of these trends. Using a cohort perspective the paper explores whether the religious changes can be attributed to population turnover or to intra cohort developments. The secularization thesis asserts that religion has lost its societal significance and thus that religion is no longer a source of inspiration for civic behaviour and therefore considered a threat for social cohesion and democracy. This idea will be elaborated on by studying the impact of religious beliefs and practices on key notions of civil society, such as solidarity, social trust, societal engagement and tolerance.