Written by Jan

From Jihad and Crusade to Care: How We Can Save Priests and Imams from Violence and Make Them Useful in the 21st Century

Christian priest and Muslim imam shaking hands with a smiling boy outdoors

Plan: Transform Religious Leaders into Secular Care and Community Workers

Core Idea

We acknowledge that many people have a deep need for meaning, community, morality, and hope, especially in uncertain times (war, climate change, economic problems).

Instead of letting this need be filled by doctrines that sometimes lead to violence (“killing for God/Allah”), we turn priests, imams, pastors, and other religious leaders into professional, secular or semi-secular care and welfare workers.

They keep a special legal status (similar to current priests: official recognition, protection, tax benefits), but their work must be 100% compliant with modern values: human rights, equality, non-violence, science, and secular law.

Goal of the Plan

  • Urgently reduce religiously motivated violence.
  • Redirect religious energy into constructive help and support.
  • Prevent people searching for meaning from falling into the hands of radicals.

Concrete Plan: The “Care Chaplain Statute”

1. New Role Description

  • Name: Community and Life Coach (or “Care Chaplain” / “Wellbeing Imam”).
  • Main tasks:
  • Listening and emotional/spiritual support (without pushing dogma).
  • Building communities, fighting loneliness, grief counseling.
  • Moral reflection based on universal human rights instead of holy texts.
  • Practical help with poverty, integration, and mental health (in cooperation with regular care services).
  • Crisis intervention in neighborhoods.

2. Special Legal Status

  • Equal to current religious office holders:
  • Tax exemptions or reductions (like churches now have).
  • Professional confidentiality (same as doctors or therapists).
  • Official state recognition as “certified life guidance counselor”.
  • Condition: They must complete an official, secular training program and swear an oath on the Constitution and human rights.
  • Religious organizations that participate receive transition subsidies, provided they follow the new rules.

3. Training and Transition Program (5-year plan)

  • Year 1-2: National transition centers (government + universities).
  • Mandatory modules: psychology, social work, ethics, deradicalization, conflict resolution, basic science.
  • Critical study of the Bible and Quran (historical context and critical analysis).
  • Non-violence and extremism recognition training.
  • Year 3-4: Internships in regular care settings (mental health services, community centers, hospitals, prisons).
  • Year 5: Certification + ongoing further education.
  • Older priests and imams can become mentors or opt for early retirement with benefits.

4. Funding

  • Partly by reallocating existing church subsidies and religious funds.
  • Partly from regular care budgets (mental health and social cohesion are already expensive).
  • Donations from believers are allowed, but only for secular care activities (with transparent oversight).

5. International and Security Dimension

  • Start as a pilot in the Netherlands and Europe.
  • Cooperate with countries where religious violence is high (via EU, UN, development aid).
  • Link to deradicalization programs: imams who switch receive protection against threats from their own community.
  • Much stricter approach against hate preachers who refuse to participate (mosque closures, deportation, cutting off funding).

Expected Effects

  • Fewer young men radicalizing because the “cool” imam is now a professional, respected care worker.
  • The human need for meaning remains, but becomes detoxified.
  • Churches and mosques become more like community centers and less like ideological hubs.
  • Long-term reduction in “killing for God” because leaders themselves no longer believe in or are allowed to promote that logic.

Challenges & Counterarguments

  • Resistance: Many conservative believers will see this as an attack on their faith. Solution: start voluntarily, not mandatory.
  • Hypocrisy: Some will only participate for the money. Solution: strict audits and revocable status.
  • Freedom of religion: This touches the boundary. Therefore, private religion remains free, but public office is regulated.
  • Islam-specific: More difficult due to international influences (Salafism, funding from Gulf states). This requires diplomatic pressure.

This plan is radical but realistic. It recognizes the human need for meaning while refusing to tolerate its destructive sides.

Do you want to help develop this further? Share this post and discuss. What name would you give this new profession? Which module must absolutely be in the training?

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