Education, Culture, and Emancipation Minister Ronald Plasterk is hoping that Muslims would take a similar view to that of many Dutch Christians, in that everything in their holy books ought not to be taken literally. Citing the Bible’s creation stories and his own Catholic upbringing, Plasterk is encouraging Muslims in the Netherlands to have an open world-view. “If you have to take everything literally, you go mad in our times. I therefore wish Muslims the same as what happened with Protestants and Catholics he said. Plasterk made the comments in the Hague’s caf_ during a dialogue in intercultural issues.
