Knocking on heaven's door : American religion in the age of counterculture / Mark Oppenheimer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Oppenheimer, Mark, 1974-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Counterculture--United States--History--20th century.

Counterculture.

Religion.

United States.

History.

United States--Religion--20th century.

United States--Social conditions--20th century.

Social conditions.

Physical Description:

ix, 284 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm

Place of Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, [2003]

Summary:

What happened to American religion during the cultural revolution of the 1960s and early 1970s? The era has long been associated with the ascendancy of Eastern religions and fringe cults. But in this provocative book, Mark Oppenheimer demonstrates that contrary to conventional wisdom, most Americans did not turn on, tune in, and drop out of mainstream religious groups during the Age of Aquarious. Instead, many Americans brought the counterculture with them to their churches and temples, changing the face of American religion. Introducing us to America's first gay ministers and first female priests, to hippie Jews and folksinging Catholics, Oppenheimer demonstrates that this was an era of extraordinary religious vitality. Drawing on a rich range of archival material as well as interviews with many of the protagonists, Knocking on Heaven's Door offers a wry and iconoclastic reappraisal of the ways in which the upheavals of the sixties changed America's relationship with God.

Contents:

Unitarians and gay rights

Roman Catholics and the folk mass

Jews and communal worship

Episcopalians and feminism

Southern Baptists and Vietnam War protest.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 229-273) and index.

ISBN:

0300100248

OCLC:

51892568