User:Lilyschallock/Religion of the Hippie Movement/Bibliography

= Religion of the Hippie Movement = The Hippie Movement was a major movement during the 1960s that surrounded the desire to be unified with nature, community, and art. One of the unifying principles of the Hippie Movement was their religious beliefs. One of the main religious points surrounded the religion of Dudeism. The other key religious aspect was the use LSD to induce psychedelic interactions. People who participated in the Hippie movement typically felt a desire to find a feel peace. This led to spiritual discovery and hippies following different spiritualities and religions.

Background
Hippies believed in going against and rebelling from the normal structure and lifestyle of people in the United States. This led to not only a rebellion against the government, but more importantly in terms of spirituality, they rebelled and rejected typical structured religion. They drew many of their beliefs and attachments to things such as nature, from more ancient religions. Some examples of these ancient religions are Sufism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and largely from Taoism. They pulled from each of these religions individually and as whole, leading to the creation of hippie religions, such as Dudeism. Dudeism, along with the larger Hippie movement, was largely inspired by the movie "The Big Lebowski". Much of the initial thoughts and actions taken by hippies and those who adopted Dudeist beliefs, was inspired by the actions and thoughts of the characters in the movie.

Dudeism
Dudeism is the primary religion that Hippies choose to identify with. Largely inspired by "The Big Lebowski", Dudeism focuses on the lack of preaching, the freedom of choice, harmony, and peace. The hippies and leaders in Dudeism say that their inspiration to surround themselves with nature and to find their inner peace comes largely from Taoism. Those who participate in the Dudeist religion prioritize feeling relaxed and also feeling and acting true to themselves. Many Dudeists say the religion itself is actually the absence of an organized religion. They associate themselves as all not wanting to be apart of the typical structured religion, which groups them together as Dudeists. However, within the Dudeist religion, there actually is some structure. Unbeknownst to many, there are Dudeist leaders that provide structure. Within the religion are spiritual leaders and what many Dudeists call High Priests. These High Priests and spiritual leaders help to guide and direct hippies and Dudeists on their own spiritual journey and personal discovery.

LSD and Spirituality
Lysergic Acid Diethylamide, much more popularly known as LSD or Acid, was and still is extremely popular within the hippie community. In particular, it was and is popular for the hippies that want to have psychedelic experiences. The purpose of taking LSD, or Acid, was to remove themselves from regular life and achieve something higher. Hippies typically used LSD to feel as though their minds were expanding. They used LSD religiously and the hippies thought that the more LSD they took and used, then the more experiences they would have and the more things they would be able to learn. For several people, they claimed and claim that they met God or a god while in the middle of an LSD induced psychedelic experiences.

Backlash on Hippie Religion
Since their beginning, Hippies have faced intense backlash and scrutiny. Especially during their prime in the 1960s, hippies were seen as a bunch of lazy people who were just looking for distractions. They were often ridiculed because they were seen as wasting their lives. They also faced backlash because they claimed to be religious and many people refuted their religion as fake. Dudeism was constantly presented by people who were not hippies as a mockery of other religions. Many people who were not hippies saw the religion as fake and also as an excuse to be lazy uninspired. Another big reason that the spirituality of hippies faced backlash was because of the use of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide, or LSD. Using drugs was not seen as a religiously based activity and faced a lot of backlash because of the recreational use of it.

Impact on United States Religion
The religion of hippies had quite a large impact on the greater United States. Many hippies influenced people around them with their Dudeist beliefs of inner peace and harmony with nature. Hippies religious beliefs also impacted people and communities. Hippies tended to migrate to areas where there was a strong sense of community. Hippies found comfort in living a communal lifestyle. In some cases they would all move to a compound. One hippie compound in particular was called "The Farm." The Farm was a place that hippies could go to feel more spiritual. Many hippies found themselves searching among others about answers about religion as well.