Easy Chair No. 134, November 11, 1986

R.J. Rushdoony and Otto Scott examine Romanticism as a cultural and intellectual movement rooted in a departure from a Christian worldview. Emerging after the Enlightenment, Romanticism replaced reason with emotion and imagination, leading to the elevation of individual feeling over moral and societal responsibility. Rushdoony highlights the descent into moral and artistic chaos, from decadent literature and modern art to rock music and media that promote sensation and isolation. Otto Scott notes the historical cycles of Renaissance, Enlightenment, and Romanticism, emphasizing how contemporary culture reflects a decay of narrative, moral structure, and communal responsibility. They discuss the revolutionary consequences of Romanticism, likening modern Western society to the pre-revolutionary French era, with moral and cultural collapse underway. The discussion critiques modern literature, film, and art for their focus on individual gratification, eroticism, and disconnection from reality, using Hemingway and other contemporary writers as examples of Romantic exaggeration and moral emptiness. Rushdoony and Scott conclude that the antidote is a return to a biblical worldview, promoting Christian faith, community, and realism. They stress the need for Christians to actively engage in culture through art, literature, education, and media supported and subsidized, to provide an alternative to the prevailing Romantic, anti-Christian cultural forces.