Godstock

Our contributing editor John Turner's "The Christian Woodstock," appearing in today's Wall Street Journal, takes on the question "How did Mr. Huckabee become a hip evangelical politician." His answer takes us back to "Explo '72." Check it out here. A brief excerpt:

Looking back, it is hard to appreciate just how revolutionary these steps were for evangelicals in 1972. Crusade's Mr. Bright, one of the most influential evangelicals of the post-World War II generation, had long rejected rock music -- along with long hair and dancing. Less than a year before Explo, he told a reporter that rock 'n' roll "wasn't for us . . . because of the complaints of ex-addicts." At the time, conservative evangelicals strongly associated rock music with drug abuse. Mr. Bright's son Zachary remembers telling his father: "You can have a conservative view of music and keep what worked for you, or you can win [young people to Christ]." "I'd rather win," Campus Crusade's president responded.

Comments

Anonymous said…
love it, love it, love it. Great article and can't wait for the book. - Ed
Randall said…
Hey John, Congrats on the piece in the WSJ. That is terrific!
DEG said…
Marvelous piece. Congrats! Looking forward to the book...
Anonymous said…
Alas, as soon as I portray Huckabee as a kindler, gentler evangelical politician, he starts defending the right of South Carolina to fly the Confederate flag.
Anonymous said…
Congrats.
Kathryn Lofton said…
Fantastic column. Way to make religious history, in addition to Huckles, hip.

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