John Gray
Negative Capability
Between the Monster and the Saint: Reflections on the Human Condition
By Richard Holloway
Canongate 200pp £14.99 order from our bookshop
Most people who get involved in debates about religion assume that having strong beliefs is a Good Thing. For secular humanists, religion is a tissue of errors no reasonable person should entertain for a moment. For at least some believers, religion is a body of received truths one must accept or reject. Both sides take for granted that it is an area of life where firm convictions are required.
In Britain the enemies of religion are commonly more dogmatic than its friends. Drawing on a tradition of questioning that goes all the way back to the Book of Job, most religious people in this country do not need reminding that their beliefs are highly problematical. In contrast, secular humanists
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