meaning of a world without God

[James]

Tonight, BBC 2, 8.10pm
The Romantics
Peter Ackroyd's historical drama concludes with the story of the Romantics' search for meaning in a world without God. Following the revolutions of the late 18th century, people endeavoured to define themselves without regard to the sanctions of religion and the Church. Artists delved into the uncharted depths of the unconscious, emerging with new ways of thinking and of conducting their lives.

[Tormented by Treachery]

World without God = world without Homophobia, racism, terrorism, and fascism not designed around greed.

[James]

ah well in the end i didn't watch it. Cooked instead.

[Sir Aunty Christ]

It was a very good programme.

[James]

yes, it did look rather interesting. I did mean to watch it.
What were its main conclusions?

[Sir Aunty Christ]

Well it wasn't specifically about atheism, this episode focused on on the Romantic poets - like Byron, Keats and Shelley - who rejected God as the highest form of oppression.

The Romantic ethos was about freeing the senses and freeing mankind from all types of oppression. Shelley wrote a tract in 1811 while attending Oxford called The Necessity of Atheism (http://www.infidels.org/library/historical/percy_shelley/necessity_of_atheism.html) in which his basic conclusion is that the existence of God cannot be proved therefore it is useless to believe in God. He also attacked the nation-state as its hierarchical structures were based on the existance of God.

Unsurprisingly, he was expelled from Oxford. They said he was attacking the foundation of western civilisation.

[ComradeOm]

I had this programme on in the background and I can't say that I even noticed that it was about religion. It seemed to focus exclusively on the Romantics which, while no doubt interesting, wasn't enough to tear my attention away from the computer.