Customer Reviews

Hippies of the Religious Right: From the Countercultures of Jerry Garcia to the Subculture of Jerry Falwell

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The first chapter is almost completely secondary research material and you get the feeling the book is going to be pretty lousy. However, it really picks up after that-- and much of the later research material (though not especially hard to find or archivally based) is quite compelling. The argument is clear, compelling, and very very readable. Chapters are short, but perhaps that's good for an undergraduate level. It's an ideal book to assign to younger undergrads who are just learning about the genre of historical monograph. Great for provoking discussions.

The title says it all in this novel about the counterculture movement. Turn the book over and the line at the top of the book will really peak your interest "From the Counterculture of Jerry Garcia to the subculture of Jerry Falwell", so how can you resist reading and the author does not disappoint. The author is Preston Shires who has a PhD from the University of Nebraska and teaches history at the Southeast Community College in Lincoln, Nebraska and makes a strong but interesting point of how the hippie counterculture movement of the 1960's evolved into the Jesus Movement of the 1970's and the 1980's. But than again as Shires points out the 1960's hippies seem to follow the Golden Rule philosophy of the Bible which is "Whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them; for this is the law and the prophets" (Matthew 7:12) even if they themselves did not know it at the time. From this philosophy it just seemed to birth into the Jesus Movement as the hippies grew older and looked for a deeper meaning of the whole "love" thing and still didn't want any part of their parents' religion. This reviewer feels the author puts it best - "Although the youth of the sixties rebelled against many of the strictures of their parents' generation, they did retain at least two important older-generation principles. They never abandoned in the main, a commitment to the golden rule ideal, and they never relented in their pursuit of freedom or expressive individualism. What they did reject was the conformism that forbade them the right to do new things and think new ideas".

Read how the religious leaders at the time became involved such as Billy Graham, Pat Robertson, David Wilkerson and many others. Also read of some of the leaders that came from the hippie movement into the Jesus Movement like Keith and Melody Green and the beginning of their ministries.

Exceptional book at explaining the Jesus Movement, a definite read for the 60's historical buffs, or even a great subject for a debate team, great for Christians or anyone interested in how modern day Christianity evolved from the hippies to the Jesus movement to now. Overall this book would be great for a group study as it does read like a textbook but it's amazing that so much information is contained to only 242 pages. The notes at the end of the book; just give an added depth to some of the information and requires reading as well. The bibliography book list is really great for a further reading or study. There is even an index that makes it great for going back for rereading of certain sections. This book has this reviewer's vote in agreeing with the author's argument but read it for yourself and than decide.