Hippies And The Counterculture Of The 1960s

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The Jesus Revolution was a mass revival in the 1970s that transformed thousands of hippies into followers of Christ. A hippy rejected the traditional norms that have covered the United States for hundreds of years until Lonnie Frisbee, Duane Pederson, and Jack Sparks converted these hippies into devoted Christians. The lifestyle of a hippie consisted of a unique style of clothing and a vegetarian diet because of the unprocessed foods. Hippies advocated for peace and supported openness contrary to the restrictions that resided in traditional society. Furthermore, hippies used hallucinogenic drugs, marijuana, and LSD, and their reasoning for it was to expand their consciousness. The counterculture that hippies took part in clashed with society …show more content…

This event lasted for three days and was filled with peace, love, music, and drugs (Ward and Gaar). The festival was not as great as others portrayed it according to the article, “The unpredictable hell of Woodstock 1999: Burning stages, sexual abuse, and a stream of feces” written by Miquel Echarri. Echarri wrote that Heather attended the festival and stated that she “...began to feel that they were being treated like animals.” The pricing of the food was high for the time period and outside provisions were prohibited. The setting of the concert was maintained poorly for the three days that hippies spent there. Heather mentioned that “we woke up on Saturday morning in a sea of garbage that nobody picked up” (Echarri). Feces contaminated the free drinking water that several people used to brush their teeth and shower. The environment progressively worsened as the festival went on and was unliveable by the …show more content…

The old ways of drugs and alcohol turned into following Jesus and living according to the famous 10 commandments. Lonnie Frisbee, Duane Pederson, Jack Sparks, and several other evangelists contributed to the mass conversion by spreading the gospel to radicals needing guidance. The hippie movement was beneficial for Christians trying to spread the word about Jesus because hippies were not set in their ways. They were willing to follow Jesus because it offered a safe place with food and friendship as well as a good environment that differed from drugs, sex, and alcohol. The Jesus revolution of the 1970s was a significant movement that had a lasting impact on American Christianity and society as a whole, inspiring many to seek a deeper relationship with God and leading to the development of ministry and community that continues to influence the church