ABSTRACT
Sociologists are not immune to the temptation which afflicts everyone to think that what is happening in their own country is both typical and predictive. Both Protestant and Catholic affiliations today have fallen in half compared to the affiliation when the respondent was growing up and the affiliation of the respondents parents. Sociological analysis requires comparison. Thus, one must find another nation which is in some ways similar to the Netherlands to determine whether people can account in part for the collapse of religion in recent decades. The minority of Dutch who remain within the religious denominations are devout, Protestants more than Catholics, and believe firmly in God and life after death. For a couple of generations, British sociologists have been celebrating the decline of religion in their own country. There is no thought of comparing religion in Britain with that of Italy which has recently passed Britain in economic wealth.
