| Abstrakt: |
This article presents information related to violence and near-riot that occurred on Easter of 1967 in Old Central which is one of San Francisco's oldest surviving church structures. A 1968 analysis of church records indicates that the congregation includes 22 distinct ethnic and racial groups, as might be expected in a cosmopolitan seaport. However, the general American culture functions as an effective assimilating force. The Easter congregation at San Francisco Central Church was swollen by the addition of many visitors, stirred by that rare religious impulse that urges them to attend Easter and Christmas services. The congregation of Central Church is used to regularity and rigid structure in their religious organization and activities. The sudden intrusion of the hippie life style into Central Church created abrasive culture conflict, with each side viewing the other through a kind of ethnocentric tunnel vision. The attitude and behavior of the two hippies towards Central Church illustrates their hang-loose ethic. The church is a militant institution, organized and socialized for spiritual and temporal warfare. |
