Dutch Justice Minister: Freedom of religion and wokism hinder freedom of speech

These things endanger the democratic rule of law, she argued during an annual lecture of the magazine Elsevier Weekly. The Netherlands is too scared to limit the freedom of religion for the benefit of freedom of expression, Yeşilgöz said.

The minister points out the danger of a stealthily crumbling democracy if there is no counter-action against the so-called wokism and extremism. Therefore, she calls everyone to stand up: “Do not tolerate what we should not tolerate.”

According to Yeşilgöz, wokism – woke refers to the awareness of social problems such as racism and discrimination against minorities – threatens to focus solely on exclusion. She fears it is driven by “people who find that they can choose which information or opinion is correct and what is incorrect. Or what is hurtful and what is not. Who is a good person and who is not. Who are, under the guise of inclusion, only busy excluding people; and who cancel everything they do not like.” She warns for silencing topics, views and opinions for the reason that they hurt others. By doing so, the “wokists” determine who is allowed to speak up and who is not. “Only when you belong to the right group can you raise your voice.”

Freedom of expression

On the other hand, Yeşilgöz argues that freedom of expression should not be sacrificed to save the freedom of religion. According to her, the Dutch are too afraid of limiting freedom of religion. “Too often, we did not dare to stand up for the freedom of expression, especially when religion was ridiculed. And that is crippling for our democracy and security.”