Posted on 11/18/2001 4:10:44 PM PST by NewAmsterdam
. . Postbus 10498, 2501 HL Den Haag
tel.: 06-14954790 fax: 084-8617731
info@burkestichting.nl
Welcome
Welcome to the home page of the Edmund Burke Foundation, the first Dutch conservative organization. The Edmund Burke Foundation was formed at the end of 2000 as a non-partisan public policy platform to promote conservatism in The Netherlands. The Burke Foundation seeks to promote conservative philosophy and policy proposals, to bring together those interested in conservatism in The Netherlands and to change public opinion in a notoriously progressive country.
Why Burke?
Edmund Burke (1729-1797) has been chosen as the namesake of the Foundation because of his crucial influence both on conservatism as a political philosophy and on Dutch political thought. In The Netherlands, Burke was particularly influential in the 19th century, when his writings shaped politicians like Hogendorp, who restored the Dutch monarchy after the downfall of Napoleon and authored the first Dutch constitution and Groen van Prinsterer (1801-1876). Groen van Prinsterer prepared the way for the Anti-Revolutionary Party formed in 1878 by Abraham Kuyper. Groen van Prinsterer was the author of the Burkean tract Ongeloof en Revolutie (1847, Unbelief and Revolution), a classic of christian conservatism.
We invoke the spirit of Edmund Burke and hope to make his timeless conservatism timely yet again.
Principles
The core ideas of the Burke Foundation are the principles of a truly free society: the individual's right to life, liberty and the pursuit of the good life. Liberty without restraint is license. It affirms that the only freedom worth pursuing respects the values and objective moral norms of the Judeo-Christian tradition. It seeks to uphold the rule of law, the sanctity of life and limited government. The Burke Foundation recognizes that worthwhile institutions -such as church, school, university, family, secure property- are hard to build, and easy to destroy, and that since a life without such institutions is seriously impoverished, they must be defended with vigor.
People
The Burke Foundation was founded by a group of journalists, scholars, politicial activists and concerned citizens who lacked a formal structure to express their conservative views. The driving force was Dr Andreas Kinneging, a leading Dutch political philosopher, who is a professor of law at the University of Leiden. Dr Kinneging, a well-known scholar and public intellectual, has been at the forefront of the war of ideas in The Netherlands for years. He is the author of Aristocracy, Antiquity and History-Classicism in Political Thought (Transaction, 1997) and many articles.
The president of the Board of the Burke Foundation is Joshua Livestro, who has worked for the British Conservative Party and now works for Frits Bolkestein, the former political leader of the Dutch Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and current European Commisioner for the Internal Market. A well-respected protestant academic, Dr George Harinck, of the Free University of Amsterdam, serves as a Vice President of the Burke Foundation.
Former Dutch prime minister A. A. M. van Agt has publicly supported the Edmund Burke Foundation. Also, the Foundation has been lauded by Leen van Dijke, MP for the ChristianUnion and former political leader of the Reformed Political Federation (RPF). Van Dijke said: "I think the Burke Foundation is a fascinating and unique initiative. Something like this has never happened in Holland before." Van Dijke added: "The Burke Foundation can play a crucial role in denuding the trendy, elitist liberal ideas and help us to formulate political answers." Senator G. Holdijk of the Constitutional Reformed Party (SGP) said: "What I like about conservatism in particular is its conception of the state". He envisaged that christian political parties might have to "find refuge in a broad-tent conservative party in which they can continue to trumpet their Christian message." Hans Dijkstal MP, leader of the classical-liberal Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and former deputy prime minister, even declared as a result of the Burke Foundation: "I am a big-time conservative."
The present Board of the Edmund Burke Foundation consists of:
Joshua Livestro President
dr. George Harinck Vice President
Michiel Visser Vice President for International Affairs
Emma Cohen de Lara Secretary
René van Wissen Treasurer
International Advisor to the board on American Affairs is Cornelis Heesters
Mission
The Edmund Burke Foundation focuses its activities on three fields, broadly defined as (1) public policy, (2) education and scholarship and (3) organization of conservatism.
Public policy: The Burke Foundation aims to organize conferences, publish and promote conservative research and introduce these studies into the public arena through publications in newspapers and magazines, appearances on radio and TV and by distributing and communicating findings to decision makers and opinion makers.
Education and scholarship: The Burke Foundation promotes informed first class scholarship of the history and philosophy of conservatism and conservative issues. It aims to publish books, journals and pamphlets and finance and organize scholarly studies. It wants to bring college and graduate students in touch with the conservative tradition of thought.
Organization and politics: In its initial phase, the Edmund Burke Foundation may serve as the hub from which Dutch conservatism can be organized, although for itself it sees a role as a public policy institute and educational organization. The Burke Foundation is non-political and non-partisan.
Events
The Burke Foundation has received a good reception in Dutch society, although some harsh attacks on the Foundation and its members have been predicatbly made in the left-wing media. But the wide praise is more notable. Featured articles have appeared in virtually all major newspapers and leading opinion magazines, many encouraging in tone. Hundreds of positive reactions and a well-attended launch in February in The Hague show that there is genuine grass roots support for the ideas and mission of the Foundation. Many individuals have started making small donations. A generous anonymous donation from abroad has supplied the Foundation with the financial means to fund an annual Edmund Burke Lecture by a prominent conservative.
The first Edmund Burke Lecture has been held on July 5 in The Hague to great acclaim and public interest by the British political philosopher and writer Roger Scruton. A select audience of Dutch politicians, scholars and journalists will attend a one-day conference on 'Compassionate Conservatism and the Welfare State', co-organized by the Edmund Burke Foundation and the Acton Institute (www.acton.org) in September.
The Burke Foundation has been in formal discussions with representatives of the ChristianUnion, a Dutch political party, to exchange and compare ideas and investigate possible ways of future co-operation. A first meeting took place in December 2000, with further meetings planned. Informal meetings have taken place with members of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), two other main political parties. The Burke Foundation uses these meetings to find an audience for its policy proposals and to introduce conservatism to Dutch politicians.
Outreach
The Burke Foundation sees co-operation with other institutions, both home and abroad, as key to a flourishing future. It is actively looking to make connections with conservatives abroad and has already established informal contacts with the American Enterprise Institute (www.aei.org), the New Atlantic Initiative (www.aei.org/nai), the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty (www.acton.org), the Heritage Foundation (www.heritage.org), the Brussels-based Center for the New Europe (www.cne.be) among others.
Please contact the Foundation's Vice President for International Development, Michiel Visser, at visser@burkestichting.nl for details of our international outreach and proposals for co-operation.
Contact
Please direct general queries and mail:
Edmund Burke Foundation
PO Box 10498, 2501 HL The Hague
The Netherlands
Phone: +31-6-14954790 Fax: +31-84-8617731
info@burkestichting.nl
Historically, the Holland of old was a stronghold of Calvinistic Reformation thought.
Formerly controlled by Spain, the Dutch suffered much persecution at the hands of the Roman Catholic Church for their uncompromising Protestant faith.
The Dutch also sent out missionaries around the world. Their influence is still felt in this country, as well.
As recently as 1967, Holland defied Arab international opinion by openly siding with Israel in her struggle for survival.
Of late, however, Holland has stood for drugs, homosexuality, euthanasia, and general immorality -- in short, a real human cesspool.
Where are the best restaurants in Amsterdam? It's always good to know where the culinary tourist traps are, so one can avoid them.
The Second World War led to the last great wave of European emigration to the New World, taking away even more of the best and brightest who had the initiative to start all over in foreign lands.
The Netherlands is an excellent case in point. Thousands of Dutch--among them the most moral and upright Christian people you'd ever meet, Catholic or Calvinist--emigrated to Canada, Australia and the USA after World War II, while the enervated, effete, elderly and collaborators stayed behind.
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