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reframed as arbitrary, oppressive, or archaic. Obedience
gave way to autonomy, reverence to critique, and restriction
to experimentation. While these reinterpretations promoted
personal freedom and creativity, they also challenged
traditional structures of family, community, and ethical
consensus, producing both cultural liberation and social
disorientation [9,12,13,14].

In conclusion, the hippie-era critique of the Ten
Commandments exemplifies a broader historical tension: the
transformation of moral authority from divinely sanctioned
and socially enforced to personally constructed and
culturally contested. Figures from Sartre and Camus to
Russell, Ginsberg, Leary, Hoffman, and Kesey collectively
dismantled the authority of the Decalogue, replacing it with
secular, existential, and countercultural principles [1–7,9].
Their critiques highlight the fragility of inherited moral
systems when confronted with individual freedom, social
experimentation, and critical reason, illustrating the
enduring philosophical and cultural challenges posed by the
“upside-down” morality of the era.

1. Sartre, Jean-Paul. Being and Nothingness
2. Camus, Albert. The Myth of Sisyphus
3. Russell, Bertrand. Why I Am Not a Christian
4. Ginsberg, Allen. Howl and Other Poems
5. Leary, Timothy. The Psychedelic Experience
6. Hoffman, Abbie. Steal This Book
7. Kesey, Ken. Sometimes a Great Notion
8. Zinn, Howard. A People’s History of the United
States

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