Liberty Advocate http://www.libertyadvocate.com
The Hippie Gospel
by
Karen Pansler-Lam, J.D. Progressive Christianity is rebellious hippie theology. And hippie theology is paganism.
"Progressive" Christianity portrays Jesus as a hippie.
Hippie theology has corrupted Christianity: universal love, destruction of the organized church, ecumenism, rejection of Christian morals and traditions and manners, and other rebellious and destructive doctrines of the hippie gospel.
Let's briefly look at the hippie gospel and see how it has perverted Christianity. Its corrupting influence will be analyzed more in depth in upcoming messages.
Wikipedia states:
Hippies rejected established institutions, criticized middle class values, opposed nuclear weapons and the Vietnam War, embraced aspects of Eastern philosophy, championed sexual liberation, were often vegetarian and eco-friendly, promoted the use of psychedelic drugs which they believed expanded one's consciousness, and created intentional communities or communes. They used alternative arts, street theatre, folk music, and psychedelic rock as a part of their lifestyle and as a way of expressing their feelings, their protests and their vision of the world and life. Hippies opposed political and social orthodoxy, choosing a gentle and nondoctrinaire ideology that favored peace, love and personal freedom, expressed for example in The Beatles' song "All You Need is Love". Hippies perceived the dominant culture as a corrupt, monolithic entity that exercised undue power over their lives, calling this culture "The Establishment", "Big Brother", or "The Man". Noting that they were "seekers of meaning and value", scholars like Timothy Miller have described hippies as a new religious movement. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippie
Carefully note that Timothy Miller and others describe hippies as a new religious movement. The "new religious movement" sounds like progressive Christianity!
1. Hippies rejected established institutions. Of course, hippies preached against the organized church, especially the Old Church Order. And hippies preached against Bible doctrine and reverence and truth.
2. Hippies criticized middle class values. In other words, hippies belittled and preached against Christian character - holiness. They preached "judge not" to advocate disobeying God's command:
Be ye holy; for I am holy. 1 Peter 1:16
3. Hippies opposed nuclear weapons and the Vietnam War. My purpose is not to argue for or against nuclear weapons or the Vietnam War, but to point out the underlying hippie doctrine of pacifism. Listen closely, true Christians are seen as the greatest resisters to the New World Order. Therefore, in an effort to get us to voluntarily submit to bondage to heathen nations, the hippie doctrine of pacifism is preached. The purpose of hippie theology is to reduce brave men to cowardly submission to the New World Order: peace at ANY price...even bondage to a global government.
4. Hippies embraced Eastern philosophy. Other words for Eastern philosophy are New Age, mysticism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and other false religions. Of course, Eastern philosophy is the enemy of true Christianity.
5. Hippies championed sexual liberation: fornication, adultery, lewdness, lasciviousness, homosexuality and other sexual sins.
6. Hippies were sometimes vegetarian and eco-friendly. This is discussed in "Earth Day Vs. Creation Day: Mother Earth or God the Father?" @ http://www.libertyadvocate.com/Earth%20Day.htm.
7. Hippies promoted the use of psychedelic drugs. Hippies used mind-altering drugs and listened to mind-altering psychedelic rock music.
Today, mind-altering psychedelic "Christian" rock music is being introduced into the church. And many progressive Christians smoke pot and use other drugs.
8. Hippies created intentional communities or communes. Hippie theology promotes a global community of communism: redistribution of wealth, communal gardening (communist collective farming), and so forth. However, they rename it "sustainability":
Ways of living more sustainably can take many forms from
controlling
living conditions (e.g., ecovillages,
eco-municipalities
and sustainable
cities), to reappraising work practices (e.g., using permaculture,
green
building, sustainable
agriculture), or developing new technologies
that reduce the consumption of resources.
Beware the words "controlling living conditions." This is just another name for communism. Under the guise of saving natural resources, Christians are deceived into believing in the near future we must live in controlled living conditions, or communes (communism).
9. Hippies used alternative arts such as street theatre, folk music, and psychedelic rock as part of their lifestyle and as a way of expressing their feelings, their protests and their vision of the world and life. Modern Christians use church theatre, Christian folk music, and psychedelic Christian rock music as part of church worship to express their feelings, their protests and their vision of the world and life.
In other words, skits and plays are used to protest the Old Church Order of sound doctrine, reverence and solemn church worship. Much of contemporary Christian music is psychedelic rock or folk rock music. Folk rock combines elements of rock n' roll and folk music, often conveying themes of social protest.
The shallow repetitive songs of contemporary Christian music are social and religious protests against sacred music that glorifies God, not the flesh. As for psychedelic "Christian" rock, some churches now use multiple bright color lights similar to those seen in drug-induced hallucinations. The church music worship of progressive Christianity is more like a psychedelic festival:
A psychedelic festival is a gathering that promotes psychedelic music and art in an effort to unite participants in a communal psychedelic experience. Psychedelic festivals have been described as "temporary communities reproduced via personal and collective acts of transgression...through the routine expenditure of excess energy, and through self-sacrifice in acts of abandonment involving ecstatic dancing often fuelled by chemical cocktails." These festivals often emphasize the ideals of peace, love, unity, and respect. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychedelia
Clearly, the music worship in many progressive churches is a psychedelic festival in an effort to unite the participants in a communal psychedelic experience. The purpose of psychedelic Christian rock music is to induce a psychedelic experience including changes of perception, altered states of awareness or focused consciousness, variation in thought patterns, trance or hypnotic states, mystical states, and other mind alterations. Psychedelic Christian rock music emphasizes pacifism, ecumenism, hedonism, and "love" (toleration of sin).
10. Hippies rebelled against Biblical doctrines, traditions and eternal truths. The Beatles' song "All You Need is Love" is a banal, repetitive song promoting ecumenism and humanism. (See "Ecumenism: Unholy Unity" @ http://www.libertyadvocate.com/Ecumenism%20is%20Unholy%20Unity.htm).
Wikipedia states:
Hippies opposed political and social orthodoxy, choosing a gentle and nondoctrinaire ideology that favored peace, love and personal freedom, expressed for example in The Beatles' song "All You Need is Love".
In the name of love and personal freedom, hippie theology commands us to "judge not." Personal freedom and "love" is expressed in the progressive church by preaching toleration and refusing to condemn sin. For instance, according to the August 18, 2008, issue of Time magazine, Rick Warren is “both leading and riding the newest wave of change in the Evangelical community: an expansion beyond social conservatism to causes such as battling poverty, opposing torture and combating global warming.” And he has shifted away from “sin issues” – like abortion and gay marriage – and is more interested in questions that are “uniting” such as poverty, HIV/AIDS, climate change and human rights." (See "Wake Up, Evangelicals!" @ http://libertyadvocate.com/message28.htm).
My friend, when you shift away from “sin issues” you shift away from the pure Gospel.
In sum, progressive Christianity is rebellious hippie theology. And hippie theology is paganism.
The hippie gospel - progressive Christianity - is rebellion against God's Law. God's Law preaches liberty. But hippie theology preaches license...freedom from God's Law. But license actually leads us into bondage.
Don't be deceived by the hippie gospel, or "progressive" Christianity.
August 2012
Liberty Advocate
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