De Vrije Gedachte
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| Formation | 12 October 1856 | ||
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| Type | Nonprofit organisation | ||
| Purpose | Promoting atheistic humanism | ||
| Headquarters | Utrecht | ||
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Region
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Netherlands | ||
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Membership (2013)
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500 | ||
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Chair
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Fabian van Langevelde | ||
| Website |
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Vrijdenkersvereniging De Vrije Gedachte (DVG) (English: Freethinkers association The Free Thought), is a Dutch atheist–humanist association of freethinkers. It was founded in 1856 and known by the name De Dageraad ("The Dawn") before assuming its present name in 1957. De Vrije Gedachte strives to use reason, natural science and logic to liberate humanity from prejudices, clerical paternalism, dogmas and false truths.
According to Bert Gasenbeek, Hans Blom and Jo Nabuurs, the organised freethought movement in the Netherlands commenced with the publication of Licht en Schaduwbeelden uit de binnenlanden van Java door de Gebroeders Dag en Nacht ("Light and Shadow Images From the Inlands of Java by the Brethren Day and Night", 1854). Originally released anonymously, this treatise by physician and ethnologist Franz Wilhelm Junghuhn (1809–1864) narrates a fictional journey across the Dutch East Indian island of Java, during which a discussion unfolds between four scientists who represent materialism (Morgenrood, "Red sky at morning"), deism (Dag, "Day"), pantheism (Avondrood, "Afterglow") and orthodox Christianity (Nacht, "Night"), respectively. The first three scientists rely on reason, and start out with nature as the source of knowledge about truth, which in those days was referred to as the 'natural religion'. This approach led them to deny the existence of a personal or supernatural God. Because this posed a direct challenge to the (at that time in the Netherlands still dominant) position of Christianity as revealed religion, the controversial book received a storm of criticism.
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