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Rise of the Hippie Movement and influence of psychedelic drugs 

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Rise of the Hippie Movement and influence of psychedelic drugs 

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In the 1960s, the young people of America found themselves revolting against the current political status quo and the social climate in the country. This time was marked by numerous protest marches against the Vietnam War, racial segregation, and overall establishment of the contemporary society. Moving towards a different counter-cultural mentality, many young Americans were forming communities in an attempt to follow a lifestyle that took them away from the mainstream society. LSD was first introduced in 1961, and along with a common usage of cannabis and other psychedelic drugs, by the mid-decade coastal California turned into the epicentre of the gathering hippies in search for alternative paths. In 1967, a very-well known cultural phenomena The Summer of Love occurred in San Francisco, when more than 100,000 young people gathered together, inspired by the “idealistic Utopian vision for world peace, love and anti-materialism” (Varga, 2017, para. 12). This event had spiked controversial opinions and was regarded either as a celebration of unity and hope for the new generation or as a psychedelic trip, full of mass-hedonism, near-anarchy, and rock music.

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The rise of the interest in the occult can be traced back to the 1960s in America. This era is often associated with the New Age spiritualism, influenced by the trend of the awakening of the subconscious.

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“In the 20th century, there was a watershed moment that really erupted in the ‘60s. But it goes back a decade before that, when in the midst of really great national success, at least for white folks, there was the idea that there was a rising middle class, that one could achieve the American dream, that there was education, and that poverty was being slowly alleviated.

The children of these groups [said], ‘Oh, see, I can go to college, I can get a house. I can have two children, a white picket fence, a dog, and have a good job. But is that all there is in the world?’ And we start to see breakaway cultural movements, starting with the beatniks, then t the hippies, the broader counterculture, and a lot of these end up coalescing into intentional communities.

Think of some of the classic groups that are around then. The Hari Krishnas, for example, coming out of the 1960s and 1970s. Mostly it was college aged kids that look around and say, ‘We've been handed the world the silver platter, but we don't want it.’ And they were attracted instead by this alternative model coming out of India. Some of the most long lasting intentional communities are linked to individuals who looked East … and they embrace this Asian spirituality that often led them to try to create alternative intentional communities, communes, and cults.”

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In our previous episode, author Akash Kapur talked about his experience growing up in the utopian Indian community of Auroville.

To many, Kapur's Auroville may have sounded more like an Eastern cult than a community, but is there a distinction? When should we apply the label of "cult" to a community, and how does it change our impression of it?

KCRW's Jonathan Bastian talks with Ben Zeller, Associate Professor of Religion at Lake Forest College and author of " Heaven's Gate: America's UFO Religion," about the characteristics of cults and cult leaders and their utopian impulses to make a better world.
The following interview has been edited for length and clarity. KCRW: When do some of these communities begin to take on cult-like attributes?
Ben Zeller: "I suppose the first answer to that question is just to note that there's no firm line, because the idea of what counts as a cult is not clearly defined by anyone except forthe person using it at the moment. So I've found, for example, that groups that I consider relatively conventional religious organizations might be considered a cult by some of my students. And groups that I consider rather cultish, perhaps, are often considered ordinary religions by members or those who are close to them.

The way we use the term 'cult' generally means that it's something which is culturally or socially deviant in some way. They do something, or act in such a way that the rest of us consider them deviant. And that's relative. So that's the problem. It changes over time, it changes over place, and it changes depending on who you're talking to. But generally, groups that are going to be considered cult-like are going to be groups that [are] perceived to be highly deviant compared to the people around them."

When did the idea of something being a "cult" come into being?

"The term is new. We don't see, historically, people referring to groups that don't like us as cults until the 20th century. The term used before that was 'sect.' ... But the idea goes back centuries. I teach a class on cults, sects, and communes, and one of the things we look at is literature tracing back in early Christianity, where the Roman governor writes to the emperor and says, 'We have this new group,' ... of course, we know it's Christianity, but the way it's being described is they have these bizarre rituals where they're engaged in some sort of ritual cannibalism.

And if you know Christianity, that's the Eucharist. But to this Roman governor, it looked like something disturbing. So it's the same idea, actually, of the outsider [who] looks in and says, 'Well, this looks deviant. And so we're going to call it ... a cult.'"
How do you understand the timeline of how these groups unfolded in the U.S.?
"In the 20th century, there was a watershed moment that really erupted in the '60s. But it goes back a decade before that, when in the midst of really great national success, at least for white folks, there was the idea that there was a rising middle class, that one could achieve the American dream, that there was education, and that poverty was being slowly alleviated.

The children of these groups [said], 'Oh, see, I can go to college, I can get a house. I can have two children, a white picket fence, a dog, and have a good job. But is that all there is in the world?' And we start to see breakaway cultural movements, starting with the beatniks, then t the hippies, the broader counterculture, and a lot of these end up coalescing into intentional communities.

Think of some of the classic groups that are around then. The Hari Krishnas, for example, coming out of the 1960s and 1970s. Mostly it was college aged kids that look around and say, 'We've been handed the world the silver platter, but we don't want it.' And they were attracted instead by this alternative model coming out of India. Some of the most long lasting intentional communities are linked to individuals who looked East ... and they embrace this Asian spirituality that often led them to try to create alternative intentional communities, communes, and cults."
For many people, the idea of cults comes wrapped in the notion of a very charismatic leader. Do you find that to be true? Do you find that the term "the cult of personality" tends to be at the center of these movements?
"Generally speaking, that's correct. You need something to hold everyone together. That can be an ideal, but it usually works better with a person. If we look historically at the the cults, sex communes, intentional communities, new religions, all of these groups, there tend to be charismatic leaders at the center, because it takes a takes a lot of convincing to get people to abandon their lives and often go and move into the middle of nowhere, and adopt a totally new social and cultural structure. That's a big ask.

Max Weber, the German sociologist of religion who really defined charisma in terms of leadership, refers to it as the need to institutionalize charisma ... to make it everyday-like. ... The Mormon Church is a great example. Its founder Joseph Smith was, Mormons believe, a prophet who could receive revelation from the divine as well as translate the sacred text. After he was murdered, the Mormon Church only survived because it institutionalized his charisma into an office. So even today, the leader, the First Presidency of the Mormon Church is seen as a prophet. So they institutionalized that successfully. Many groups do not. When the charismatic leader passes away or departs for some other reason, the group just falls apart."
What are some of the big takeaways that we can learn from cults, intentional communities, or utopian communities ?
"My main takeaway from studying cults, sects, communes - I tend to call these new religious movements - is that people are people. And these groups provide meaning. And they function like any other religion. They provide value. They provide family, connection, and social support. Some of these groups are bad, some are good, just like other religions. Some of these groups engage in activities which I consider unethical, immoral, improper, but members don't. Some engage in activities that even outsiders would say are lovely and caring. And often it changes over time.

The best example of this would be the People's Temple, also called Jonestown. I'm sure many people are familiar with the ending of Jonestown in South America with the largest religious mass suicide-murder, where you had parents feeding poison to their their babies. This is where the phrase 'don't drink the Kool Aid' comes from ... You had this, and they assassinated a congressman, and this was a disaster. But it actually began with racial reconciliation, serving the poor and the indigent, and trying to connect to broader society people around them.

Jim Jones was considered an excellent preacher, a social activist deeply involved in peace and in racial reconciliation. At one point, the People's Temple, before it went to South America, was considered a partner with governments in California, both in San Francisco and outside. And then over time, this group morphed and they went from being considered relatively mainstream to being considered about as alternative and abhorrent as one can get. There are different interpretations of what happened. Some are psychological - Jim Jones had a radical break and he became paranoid and narcissistic. Others are sort of more historical."
Do you think that these groups will continue to exist into the future?
"I think there will always be cults, sex communes, and intentional communities. With the birth of the internet, we've seen fewer of them that need to meet in person. People can find the community online now. But there's always going to be an interest in face to face interaction. ... So I think there will always be a desire among individuals to join communities and to be united in that way. I don't think we're gonna see them disappear. They're small, they're unusual. They're uncommon. They're short lived. Many of these groups come and go without you or me ever knowing they're even there."

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How '60s and '70s America gave rise to cult leaders | Life Examined

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In our previous episode, author Akash Kapur talked about his experience growing up in the utopian Indian community of Auroville. To many, Kapur's Auroville may have sounded more like an Eastern cult than a community, but is there a distinction? When should we apply the label of "cult" to a community, and how does it change our impression of it?

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Watergate scandal

Vietnam War

Energy crisis

Iran hostage crisis

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It led to the evacuation of Jim Jones leading to his new location to open up in California where the missiles took fire, a direct and dangerous confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War and was the moment when the two superpowers came closest to nuclear conflict. He moved into a small cave to take cover amongst the missiles, as more people gathered, that led to his decision to create the people's temple church

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It began in the late 1950s and early 1960s when missionaries from South Korea were sent to America by the international Unification Church's founder and leader Sun Myung Moon. It expanded in the 1970s and then became involved in controversy due to its theology, its political activism, and the lifestyle of its members.

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Leo Ryan was a California Representative who went to Jonestown and investigate Guyana to make a report on the abuse of the people who were there

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As the 1970s continued, a new political movement known as the “New Right” emerged. This movement, rooted in the rapidly growing suburban Sun Belt, celebrated the free market and lamented the decline of “traditional” social values and roles.

New Right conservatives resented and resisted what they saw as government meddling. For example, they fought against high taxes, environmental regulations, highway speed limits, land policies in the West (the so-called “Sagebrush Rebellion”), affirmative action and school desegregation plans. The repudiation of so-called alternative lifestyles and religions found renewed purpose after the Jonestown Massacre of 1978, when over 900 followers of preacher Jim Jones and his Peoples Temple—based in San Francisco—committed mass suicide.

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For the conventional society, hippies or the youth attracted to their lifestyle presented a counterculture, moved by non-traditional and dangerous ideas. Many of them rejected mainstream religion, which drew them into the search of alternative belief systems and forms of spiritual experience. “Disenfranchised with conventional Judeo-Christianity, they sought alternative theologies that reflected contemporary attitudes and a sense of spirituality and connectedness” (Smith, 2021, para. 6). Some of these youth turned to the paths of the Zen Buddhism, Hare Krishna, and Hindu, as those were the religious movements brought from the East. The “New Age” movement was specifically popular among the hippie culture, as it blended in its principles Eastern philosophy in the context of an American society.

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1920's and the early great depression crisis/ Women suffrage/Cultural groups

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1920's and the early great depression crisis/ Women suffrage/Cultural groups

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During the 1920's the expansion of usages of technology, the creation of cares, more rights for women as they continue to fight for their freedom. The creation of jazz music as it was an opportunity for African Americans to create music in small clubs where people could attend and opened peoples eyes as to racial discrimination in a world that should terminate it. The creation of bands, groups to come together and protest or find new members to join in. Some groups that were created to help spread positivity are, Flappers, who were young women, known for wearing short dresses and bobbed hair and for embracing freedom from traditional societal constraints. Flappers are predominantly associated with the late 1910s and the '20s in the United States, and Prohibition groups against alcohol

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Societal effects that led to cults flourishing 

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Societal effects that led to cults flourishing 

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In the 1970’s new religions started to emerge many people flocked to new ideals and beliefs seeking a higher enlightenment. As a result of people searching for the meaning of life or a higher power, religious cults became prevalent in American society in the 1970’s.

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Lots of events happening at the time caused a lot of people to lose faith in America which Jones took advantage of and he promised them a better life in Jonestown where they can live in a socialist utopia. Additionally, he staged fake cancer healings so he seemed like a god. Essentially, Jones exploited the weaknesses in people to manipulate them into praising and worshiping him.

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Through the mid 60s to 70s, being a hippie was a part of a countercultural movement that rejected the mores of mainstream American life. The movement originated from the U.S but it continued to spread into other countries like Canada and Great Britain. The movement was part as a opposition to U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. Many hippies were not actively involved with politics unlike their counterpart as the "Yippies."