Jesus freak is a term arising from the late 1960s and early 1970s
counterculture and is used as a
pejorative for those involved in the
Jesus movement. As
Tom Wolfe illustrates in
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, the term "freak" with a preceding qualifier was a strictly neutral term and described any counterculture member with a specific interest in a given subject; hence "acid freak" "Jesus freak." The term "freak" was in common enough currency that
Hunter S. Thompson's failed bid for sheriff of
Aspen, Colorado was as a member of the "Freak Power" party. However, many later members of the movement, misunderstanding the countercultural roots believed the term to be negative, and co-opted and embraced the term, and its usage broadened to describe a
Christian subculture throughout the
hippie and
back-to-the-land movements that focused on
universal love and
pacifism, and relished the radical nature of
Jesus' message. Jesus freaks often carried and distributed copies of the "
Good News for Modern Man," a 1966 translation of the
New Testament written in modern English. In
Australia, and other countries, the term Jesus freak, along with
Bible basher, is still used in a derogatory manner. In
Germany, there is a Christian youth culture, also called
Jesus Freaks, that claims to have its roots in the American movement.