Hippies Of The Religious Right

by Preston Shires

This volume demonstrates that the Christian Right has a surprising past. Historical analysis reveals that the countercultural movements and evangelicalism share a common heritage. Shires warns that political operatives in both parties need to heed this fact if they hope to either, in the case of the Republican Party, retain their evangelical constituency, or, in the case of the Democratic Party, recruit new evangelical voters.

Genres: Nonfiction

275 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2007

Reviews

[Alex Strohschein · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Hippies of the Religious Right" explores the origins of the Jesus People movement and how this vein of countercultural Christianity eventually evolved into the Religious Right.

Chapters 1-6 deal primarily with the counterculture and the Jesus People movement. The 1960s counterculture arose out of disillusionment with the establishment. The counterculture rejected material affluence, the technocracy, and social conformity. Instead, the counterculture sought enlightenment through vague and Eastern spirituality, free love, drugs, and expressive individualism. The Jesus People were able to tap into many of the frustrations and qualms other hippies held towards the mainstream culture; indeed, many members of the Jesus Movement were former hippies themselves. Evangelical leaders such as Carl F.H. Henry and Billy Graham voiced approval of the Jesus People and helped the movement be accepted by mainstream evangelicalism. Chapters 7-onward examines how the Jesus People merged into mainstream evangelicalism and eventually became committed supporters of the nascent Religious Right. This is one of the fascinating ironies of the latter half of the twentieth century; the Jesus People engaged in personal evangelism, such as tract-distribution, witnessing, and other forms of outreach and this same activist spirit was able to be transformed into political activism. Shires discusses the roles of Religious Right heavyweights such as Francis Schaeffer (who had also appealed to the Jesus People), Jerry Falwell, and Pat Robertson.

Shires is definitely correct that the Jesus People merged into the Religious Right as they married, had children, began careers, joined staid megachurches, and entered middle age. Of particular concern for the Jesus People was the pro-life issue (Shires quotes the lyrics of Christian artist Steve Taylor, though I wish he would've quoted the biting lyrics from "Bad Rap" where Taylor sings "You save the whales, you save the seals / You save whatever's cute and squeals / But you kill lthat thing' that's in the womb / Would not want no baby boom") and fervent support for Israel (Hal Lindsey's "The Late, Great Planet Earth" was the second-most widely read book after the Bible and foretold of Israel's prophetic role in the Last Days). Shires does bring in figures such as Melody Green who straddled the Jesus Movement and the Religious Right, but he tends to ignore the later lives of Jesus People leaders such as Duane Pederson and Jack Sparks, both of whom eventually converted to Eastern Orthodoxy.

I give this book 3/5 because much of it is familiar to me; for someone who hasn't explored this part of American religious history, this would be 4/5 and a helpful introduction. "Hippies of the Religious Right" was published in 2006 but since then, other books have been released that provide more comprehensive overviews. Larry Eskridge's "God's Forever Family: The Jesus People Movement in America" (which Shires heavily draws upon), was finally published in 2013 and is the best book on the Jesus People. Daniel K. Williams, one of the best younger historians, released "God's Own Party: The Making of the Christian Right" in 2010 and his book is the best examination of the Religious Right. Lastly, David R. Swartz's "Moral Minority: The Evangelical Left in an Age of Conservatism" came out in 2012 and highlights the significant, if lesser-heralded impact of Christian activists such as Jim Wallis and Ronald Sider (these two are mentioned in Shires' study). The epilogue also makes the book a bit dated as Shires is confident that "today's biblically grounded Christians do not appear to be on the verge of sequestering themselves as they did after the Scopes Trial;" despite Donald Trump's recent election and stunning amount of support among evangelicals, many orthodox Christians are musing about the need for a strategic withdrawal (see Rod Dreher and his work on the so-called "Benedict Option").

[Peacegal · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first glance, the title of this book seems ridiculous, but after you've closed the back cover, you'll come away with a new and at times sobering viewpoint of how the conservative Christian movement got so big and so pervasive in American culture in such a brief period of time.

The massive baby boomer generation was the driving force behind the incredible cultural changes that swept America in the 1960s and first part of the 1970s. They were also the impetus of the right-wing religious movement that rose to prominence in the 1980s and continues to influence much political thought to this day. Many of the values associated with these cultures are diametrically opposed to each other.

The authors carefully chart how so many baby boomers were attracted into the "Jesus People" and countercultural church movements, and later shepherded into the religious right. Spirituality and mysticism were from the outset a component of hippie culture. Indeed, as detailed in some of the anecdotal stories in this book, the search for a deity may be inspired by psychedelics. It is well-known, for instance, that the Beatles' ventures into both Indian spirituality and LSD occurred around the same time. (To this day the drone of a sitar is cultural shorthand for a psychedelic trip.) There was definitely a mass striving toward divine experience during this era.

The 1980s have been described as an angry reaction to the ideals of the 1960s. It is understandable how bad experiences with the drug and free love scenes may have caused people, especially those with an all-or-nothing viewpoint, to angrily turn their backs on everything they associated with those things, much like a person scorning an ex-lover. However, as this book details, that's not the only story. In the 1980s and '90s, some Christian baby boomers incorporated skills and presentation honed in countercultural activism into agitation for right-wing causes. Indeed, I've met plenty of baby boomers who still enjoy the music of their youth and use things like peace signs, tye-dye, and rock music in their church imagery and outreach. Yet they don't hold any of the political or social viewpoints that were once associated with those cultural markers.

However, one thing I think the author did miss, is that even if a person wore long hair and bellbottoms in the 1970s, this did not necessarily mean they were of a countercultural mindset. The clothing and hairstyles of the hippies leaked out into the general culture and everyone and their parents imitated them for awhile. So just because Bob had muttonchops and bellbottom jeans in 1977, and a short, gelled haircut and Dockers in 1997, that really doesn't say anything about him other than he was following predominant trends for his age group.

[Adam Metz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shires offers a novel interpretation of how 1960s hippies would migrate into fundamentalist and evangelical churches and eventually play a formative role in helping establish the Religious Right into later decades. He acknowledges that his book argues for a reinterpretation of the relationship between 1960s culture and evangelicalism, and often along the way he does show some warranted connections and traces logical development. However, I often felt that he was straining the connection and making claims that we're anecdotal at best and more often than not a stretch. His argument was especially strong in discussing the role that Francis Schaffer played in capitalizing on the counter cultural hippie ethos and bridging the gap with a biblically grounded intellectualism that was counter to the liberal denominations many young people were leaving. That particular argument of Shires was especially compelling.

As the same time, I often found myself less sure of the lines he attempts to draw and surprised at some of the topics he ignored - for example he makes almost no mention of the lack of emphasis of women's rights in this period of time which may have been a fomenting cause among this emerging countercultural generation. In addition he gives only a passing mention of the role race played in this movement. In a few places he tries to argue the early leaders for a bad rap and we're actually trying to be more inclusive than their reputation but it just wasn't very compelling.

Mostly, I found the book interesting enough to finish and definitely believe he shines a light on some neglected influences of the Religious Right. However, I found myself unconvinced more often than not of the connections he attempted to draw. In the epilogue he does note the distinction he uses by focus on the Evangelical right over the left which helped clarify some things I felt he neglected l, but I think that needed to be better woven into the book throughout to help nuance his argument.

[Roger · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book traces the unlikely and relatively unknown history of how the radicalism of the 1960s came to influence the growth and development of the evangelical Christian Right in American politics. It is important not just for the often ignored history but also dispels some of the often regurgitated rumors about how and why evangelical Christians came to identify with American conservatism and the Republican party. Well worth the read!

[Jeremy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting take on the 60's radicals combining the revolutionary rhetoric of Marxism -- actually rebelling against 50s theological liberalism and technocratic modernism. Striving for individualism some went the other path of drugs and the Eastern philosophy. Others went to proselytize in the streets. The establishement represented by liberalism and the other extreme, fundamentialism, could not seem to grasp what the Jesus Freaks wanted. Towards the mid-70s there was a merger w/ the "neo-evangelicals" and the pendulum of the left swung to the right year by year...heightening in the 80s. Interesting read regardless of your belief system especially if you want to know a niche' of the 60s subculture. Me, I will stick with the liberals.

[John Hodgson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned things about social activism in the 60s and 70s that I was unaware of as a youngster in that era. There was so much the news omitted in that era.

[Maggie Hedrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book presented some interesting historical connections, but was very repetitive and could have summed up the main arguments in a much shorter book.

[Daniel Silliman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing.

This book is way too broad. Worse, declarations and gestures replace evidence and arguments.

The book's claim about how the Jesus People became the religious right is actually really smart. Too bad the follow-through was so poor.

[Joe Miller · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very, very dry and non-narrative. But it had some redeeming facets, most notably the history threads in the middle. Useful to me mainly as something of an annotated bibliography.

[Hortensia]

Excellent, even if not a very heavy book.