[vice.com] Gray has written a new book called Seven Types of Atheism, revealing the surprising variety of perspectives among irreligionists.

VICE: You’re quite hard on the new atheism of Richard Dawkins and others. What frustrates you about their way of thinking?
John Gray: It’s their idea of religion as a failed scientific theory of everything, a primitive science. When it comes to the Genesis myth, even the early Christian scholars said, “You mustn’t read this as a literal rendition of fact.” It’s a mistake to confuse religious fundamentalists with the vast, rich tradition of religion life. Religion is not an explanatory theory of the world; it’s a way of making sense of living in the world.

John Gray is an English philosopher and former School Professor of European Thought.

Vaclav Havel: “Kies het gezelschap van degenen die de waarheid zoeken, maar ren weg van degenen die haar gevonden hebben.”