Exactly 6 weeks ago, on April 12th, an extensive reconstruction appeared in the Dutch Daily Newspaper (ND), along with an interview, to which I contributed. These articles brought to light (reconstruction), and I told my story (interview) about how the Reformed Reformed Church (HHK) did not want to (adequately) address the problems I repeatedly raised concerning my father, who was a minister. After the publication of these articles, an interview followed in Rijnmond on April 19, and an interview in the General Daily Newspaper (AD) on May 12, in which the story developed further, partly due to the ‘right to reply’ that was applied by the aforementioned media.
It was a pity, however, that the ‘right of reply’ in the period before the publication of the ND articles through the person of Rev. Dick-Jan Diepenbroek, the secretary of the HHK, did not exactly go smoothly, and cooperation by the church proved to be difficult. It was also a pity that the final response was rather brief, and that what was said was also quite incorrect on a number of points. It is also a pity that subsequently, on the very day the ND articles were published, an extensive interview with Ds. Diepenbroek about the issue appeared in the Reformed Daily Newspaper (RD), in which Diepenbroek was suddenly able to talk extensively about the issue. And it is a great pity that in the context of that interview (in contrast to all my interviews where the church was always asked to respond due to the ‘right of reply’), I was unfortunately not asked to give my opinion and wasn't given the opportunity to use my ‘right of reply’.
Fortunately, the Reformed Daily Newspaper was also prepared to talk to me about the issue, and so an interview was recently arranged, with the aim of looking at the church procedures, how they should work, and what the weak points and also points for improvement are when problems arise in church bodies - without delving into the specific case. Together with lawyer Bart Bouter (who is completely independent of my specific case) I had an extensive conversation about this. Heleen van de Fliert and Anne Lok-Vader recorded our conversation and turned it into a solid story.
Today the article appeared in the paper version of the Reformed Daily Newspaper, and the full article can be read online below on the RD website:
