Most of what passes for atheism is actually monotheism conducted by other means. That’s one conclusion drawn from John Gray’s provocative and compact journey across many centuries of philosophy, theology and ideology. Gray describes the evil utopias advocated by Josef Stalin, Adolf Hitler and Pol Pot as secularized versions of the Christian apocalypse and liberal notions of progress as redemption without god. Misapplied monotheism has caused much harm, but so has misapplied science (Social Darwinism and Karl Marx’s “laws” of history). Formerly professor of European thought at the London School of Economics, Gray eviscerates dozens of dogmas and reserves the greatest remnant of respect for those beliefs that advance only modest claims on reality.
