This paper addresses the growing affective polarization in the Netherlands and proposes the divine presence in the Eucharist as a form of prophetic embrace. Increasing hostility toward immigrants, particularly from Islamic cultures, together with the rise of "replacement" narratives and "remigration," has intensified polarization. In such a climate, national belonging and cultural purity can be treated as sacred and redemptive, and political identity risks becoming sacralized.
Drawing on Charles Taylor and James K. A. Smith's account of Western "excarnation," this study argues that in a predominantly Protestant context the pulpit has often overshadowed the table. Moreover, due to the Protestant heritage of the Netherlands, the sacraments have often taken a secondary place. Yet even within this context, a higher view of the Lord's Table as a source of inclusion and encounter can help address this fractured landscape and offer a social imaginary marked by embodiedness and immanence. A renewed emphasis on the table as participation in the self-giving presence of Christ can recover a prophetic voice within this polarized setting while maintaining the distinction between Creator and creation.
More than five hundred years ago, Bartolomé de las Casas insisted that the host was stained with the blood of exploited Indigenous peoples. His theological insight can be applied to the contemporary rhetorical and systemic violence directed against immigrants, for if the Eucharist is truly participation in the self-giving presence of Christ, then honoring his body in the bread cannot be separated from honoring his image in vulnerable human bodies. In this way, the Lord's Table becomes a visible sign that resists xenophobia and re-forms Christian community within a polarized society.