Seven Types of Atheism

The real conflict is not between religion and science but between Christianity and history.

While there was nothing in the pagan world of the liberal concern for individual freedom, pluralism in ways of life was accepted as a matter of course. Since religion was not a matter of belief, no one was persecuted for heresy.

The cardinal error of Christianity came from Platonism, which (for Christians who adopted it) conceived the Good to be a power in the world. Having identified itself with this power, the Church inevitably became repressive of human variety.

Conrad’s reaction to the Congo has been seen as a rejection of a Victorian idea of progress. He had seen too much of how colonialism worked in practice to believe it to be essentially civilizing.