Seconded. It's certainly a lot easier to reconcile Christianity and 1960s-style counterculture than it is to reconcile Christianity and corporate greed. All you need to do is focus on what Jesus himself said, rather than, as conservative Christians do, on obscure bits of the OT and the rantings of John against the Roman empire (otherwise known as Book of Revelation).Christianity and Hippie culture aren't too hard to reconcile.
Seconded. It's certainly a lot easier to reconcile Christianity and 1960s-style counterculture than it is to reconcile Christianity and corporate greed. All you need to do is focus on what Jesus himself said, rather than, as conservative Christians do, on obscure bits of the OT and the rantings of John against the Roman empire (otherwise known as Book of Revelation).
Jesus urged his followers to leave their jobs and families, give away their wealth, and not care about material issues. He told them to be nonconformists who would deliberately ignore social conventions, whether religious (resting on the Sabbath), moral (forgiving adulterers) or even judicial (comforting jail inmates). Also, and this is often overlooked, Jesus stayed unmarried and childless (unless you're a Dan Brown fan, of course), and this was in overt violation of the tacit societal code of his time, which urged every adult male to settle down and procreate. Sounds rather hippyish to me.
Plus, of course, Jesus even looked like a hippie...
Why would there need to be a lack of hippies for this to occur?
Yes, I know it wouldn't the first in US history (or probably the last)...
if, instead of hippies, there had been a religious revival in the Lower 48 States, would much have changed?
(or would the broad brushstrokes of history be the same, and only the details differing?)
There was one going on simultaneously. Some of its elements became involved in politics in the Republican side of the aisle, and lo and behold: Da Christian Right.![]()
Seconded. It's certainly a lot easier to reconcile Christianity and 1960s-style counterculture than it is to reconcile Christianity and corporate greed. All you need to do is focus on what Jesus himself said, rather than, as conservative Christians do, on obscure bits of the OT and the rantings of John against the Roman empire (otherwise known as Book of Revelation).
Jesus urged his followers to leave their jobs and families, give away their wealth, and not care about material issues. He told them to be nonconformists who would deliberately ignore social conventions, whether religious (resting on the Sabbath), moral (forgiving adulterers) or even judicial (comforting jail inmates). Also, and this is often overlooked, Jesus stayed unmarried and childless (unless you're a Dan Brown fan, of course), and this was in overt violation of the tacit societal code of his time, which urged every adult male to settle down and procreate. Sounds rather hippyish to me.
Plus, of course, Jesus even looked like a hippie...
I Somehow I don't think LSD and Jesus mix very well.)
Well, yeah...
If you accept the idea that he looked like a North European male. Which I find rather tricky to believe, assuming that, if Jesus was a real person - but not necessarily 'the Son of God' in a literal sense (i.e. biologically he was Joseph and Mary's son) - then he would look, what? Middle Eastern, generally? To put it broadly he would have looked more like Osama Bin Laden than George W. Bush.
I've heard it argued that the Consciousness Revolution WAS a Great Awakening, just not a Christian one. There was a great increase of interest in religion; but it was in Eastern and 'New Age' religion, not Christianity.
Given how the 60s were in large part a reaction against the conformist 50s I'm not certain how easy it would be to make it an integral part of the hippie movement. Unless someone manages to syncretize it with the more mystical elements of eastern religion (Doable, but hard. Somehow I don't think LSD and Jesus mix very well.)
Perhaps, along with the interest in Eastern Religions, someone like the Beatles swings by Kerala and develops an interest in Syrian Christianity- it's th\\presented to the West as a fusion of Eastern mysticism and Christianity, making it attractive to the group which is Christian but still interested in counterculture ideas (like the Jesus people and their ilk). The actual Syrian Christians are horrified by the idea of these barbarians co-opting their religion but no one listens much to them and a new version of St. Thomas Christianity becomes part of the counterculture- then have someone pick up on the links to Judaism and throw in the Kabbalah and other such stuff and there you have it.
Perhaps, along with the interest in Eastern Religions, someone like the Beatles swings by Kerala and develops an interest in Syrian Christianity- it's th\\presented to the West as a fusion of Eastern mysticism and Christianity, making it attractive to the group which is Christian but still interested in counterculture ideas (like the Jesus people and their ilk). The actual Syrian Christians are horrified by the idea of these barbarians co-opting their religion but no one listens much to them and a new version of St. Thomas Christianity becomes part of the counterculture- then have someone pick up on the links to Judaism and throw in the Kabbalah and other such stuff and there you have it.