The 1960’s and 70’sFrom Camelot Broken to Contemporary Christianity

The 1960’s and 70’s were a tumultuous time in our nations history. The Vietnam Conflict, premature death of our leaders and changes in society took

us down a rocky path, which changed the course of our nation forever.

Strife in the 60’s

Communism took a strong foothold close to home,

supported by our Cold War enemy, the USSR. We were

somewhat successful in driving back the advance of the USSR, but victory was

not complete.

A Beautiful Fall Day in Dallas…

And then the Unthinkable…

How could this have happened? Our nation is

coming apart at the seams. Now we are killing our leaders; one whom we

thought was going to bring Camelot…..

And we mourned…

Our nation was in mourning. Mourning for our President’s young family, and mourning for our now

lost innocence. It seemed as if our nation was broken. Trust in the establishment that we had in the 1950’s

was lost. The me generation was forming, which would change our nation forever.

And the Beat Goes On

The Beatnik’s of the 50’s brought the “beat generation,” rejecting social morays regarding sex and drugs, and embraced eastern religions. The hippies enhanced and expanded what

the beatniks did, rejecting their parents world, but using their parents money. They brought about their own marijuana and LSD laced “family” culture to the world in the 1960’s. It was all about being a part of the movement, rejecting authority; “don’t trust anyone over 30” was a mantra. The Summer of Love took place in San Francisco in 1967, and was the pinnacle of the hippie movement (The Hippie Counter Culture Movement).

The Summer of Love

Music played a big part in the Hippie

Movement, and was a unifying factor to

those who “turned on.”

Bands and Music

Anything that was mainstream was bad. This was a time of doing

your own thing. The Beetles embraced Eastern religions, and

the drug culture. Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison all

were icons in the 60’s and 70’s. Sadly they all died from drug

overdoses or causes related to a drug overdose.

Woodstock the New Family Value

Family values were being

remade, even here at Woodstock.

The Me Generation was having

it’s day.

1969It’s all about Me!California Governor, Ronald Reagan signed

the nations first No-Fault Divorce law (Wilcox 81). He later regretted it, but

Pandora’s Box was open, never to be closed again. The increase in the divorce rate

would have devastating effects on America’s families.

Divorce rates skyrocketed in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, as now there was

no reason needed to end a marriage, only the desire to

move on, and be FREE!

More About Me….

Also in 1969, Dr. Bernard Nathanson and Lawrence Lader , along with Betty

Freidan helped found NARAL, National

Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws,

opening the door to unrestricted abortions (History of Abortion).

1973 brought Roe v Wade, and the decision to make abortion legal in the US. Many of our nations women celebrated

their now legal right to kill the innocent unborn within their

own bodies.

Our Morals continue to decline…

June 28, 1969 brought a police raid on the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay hangout

(Introduction: Stonewall Uprising). The nation still had

sodomy laws which made homosexual activity a crime,

but that would change in most states by the early

1980’s

“For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error with was due.”

Rom. 1:26,27

Gay Pride in the 1970’s

In 1978 the city of San Francisco held the first Gay Pride parade. The Gay and Lesbian communities celebrated their

lifestyle choices for the first time. They used God’s symbol of the covenant he

gave to Noah, the rainbow, as the symbol of their cause. Darkness and sin was being glorified and celebrated all in

the name of freedom and choice.

Vietnam, protests and pandemonium

Protests against the Vietnam War were happening in every city in the

US. The distrust of our nations government was felt all over the country. The brokenness of our nation was being acutely felt, as signs call out our President as a

criminal.

More death and brokenness…

Robert Kennedy, brother of the late President, John Kennedy, is gunned down at a political rally at the Ambassador Hotel in Los

Angeles, June 6, 1968 (Rosenberg). The brokenness of

the country was continuing.

Earlier the same year that Robert Kennedy was killed , Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated by James

Earl Ray, a prison escapee on April 4, 1968. A national day of mourning was called for by then President

Lyndon Johnson. Our nation reeled from what seemed like chaos run-a-

muck!

Three of our nations promising leaders were gone. Our country was involved in a

war, that really wasn’t a war, and it was being broadcast into our living rooms every night during the evening news.

We Killed Kids? What?

Kent State – The Ohio National Guard was called in to put down an anti-war protest. The protests were in direct response to the then President, Richard Nixon’s decision to invade Cambodia. The mayor of Kent declared a state of emergency and contacted the governor requesting assistance. The guard was present on campus for several days. A protest was called for on Monday, May 4th, which was not authorized by the University. The protest got out of hand, as did the guard, and four students were shot dead, and nine were wounded (Lewis, Hensley)

How We See God Working…

The Jesus Movement of the 1970’s was born out of the Hippie movement that had died off in the late 1960’s

and early 70’s. Hippies turned to Jesus.

The Jesus People Movement was born in the in the same place as the counterculture hippie movement,

the San Francisco Bay Area. The Jesus movement reached its peak by 1972 and was supported by

Campus Crusade for Christ ( Turner).

God is Faithful!!

With all of the brokenness in our world during the 1960’s and 70’s, still God is faithful. He worked in places where no one would have believed. The drug infested

culture of the hippies, turn into the Contemporary Christian Jesus Movement. Larry Norman said, “why

should the devil have all the good music?” (Turner). And the birth of contemporary Christian Folk and Rock music

was born. Music that appealed to the younger generation. Music that would change the face of

American Christianity forever. But there was even more.

Method…not the Message Changes

Although the Jesus Movement waned in the mid 1970’s, and there were some that were part of the movement that did not remain orthodox in their teaching, the message of the gospel went forth. New translations and paraphrases of the bible, in modern easy to read

and understand English, helped new converts learn to read and study God’s word. Men like Chuck Smith, who started Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, California have spent years in

the ministry, winning lost souls to Christ. And the library of work from Contemporary Christian Musicians, some who have gone home to be with the Lord, continues to impact

the Kingdom even today. No, God wasn’t missing in the 60’s and 70’s, we were just looking in all the wrong places.

Works Cited

“Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. (4 April 1968).” Stanford University. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Nov. 2014.

De Sabatino, David. “The Jesus Movement.” All Saved Freak Band. N.p., Nov. 1997. Web. 9 Nov. 2014.

“History of Abortion | Students for Life.” Students for Life. N.p., 2014. Web. 4 Nov. 2014.

“Introduction . Stonewall Uprising . American Experience . WGBH | PBS.” American Experience - PBS. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Nov. 2014.

Lewis, Jerry M, and Thomas R Hensley. “The May 4 Shootings at Kent State University: The Search For Historical Accuracy.” The Ohio Council for the Social Studies Review 34.Number 1 (1998): 9–21. Print.

Martins, Antonio. “History of the Gay Pride / Rainbow Flag.” FOTW Flags of the World. N.p., 9 Dec. 2013. Web. 9 Nov. 2014.

Rosenberg, Jennifer. “Assassination of Robert Kennedy.” About Education. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Nov. 2014.

“The Hippie Counter Culture Movement (1960′s).” Mortal Journey. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Feb. 2014.

Turner, John G. “They Got High on Jesus Instead | Christianity Today.” Christianity Today. N.p., 11 July 2013. Web. 1 Nov. 2014.

Wilcox, W. Bradford. “The Evolution of Divorce > Publications > National Affairs.” National Affairs (2009): 81–94. Print.