Friday, September 07, 2007

The 1960's - Revolution and Religion

The Wall Street Journal has an inciteful op-ed on the absence of religion in most histories of the 1960's. The piece is entitled, "Hippie Shakeup: Christians were part of the '60s, too and is by John Wilson. Below are excerpts.

Not long ago, I took a look at a half-dozen histories of the '60s. Every one of them mentioned Students for a Democratic Society. Only one of them mentioned the Catholic charismatic revival that began on a retreat held by Duquesne University faculty and students early in 1967. Or the parallel influence of Pentecostalism on Protestants, especially of the evangelical variety, that changed the face of worship and piety in countless American churches and connected American believers with the global surge of Pentecostalism. And what about the Lubavitchers and similar Orthodox Jewish movements that began to attract young people at the same time?

Why this ludicrous disparity in coverage? Simple. In the master narrative of these histories, shaped by a peculiarly complacent conception of civil society, what millions of people happened to be doing in churches or synagogues isn't worthy of notice, especially if it contradicts the assumption that the trajectory of the '60s was taking a whole generation away from organized religion. Sure, the slideshow will feature Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, but a bunch of Christians speaking in tongues? Please!
Read the entire article at this link.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The reason religion isn't mentioned is because God is a fraud and all religion is fascism.

The Byzantine Rambler said...

Dear Anonymous:

It is encouraging to hear from such deeply religious people as yourself. I applaud your faith in God!

 
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