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that I've elaborated more or less to some
points in Christafari's meditations, which I
find rather confusing and contradictory
after closer studying and analysis, I would
like to dive a little more into their
definition of Rasta.
Christafari's
definition of Rasta is: "a believer in the deity or veneration of Haile
Selassie, repatriation, Ethiopia as Zion and
the sacramental use of marijuana".
But
is this a correct definition?
And
is the Scripture against honoring a
descendant of King David?
I
am personally convinced that it is not and I
am not in bad company when it comes to that.
I
presume that Mark Mohr used those things
that he finds not in accordance with
scripture to define Rastafari, but I think
the definition is not a correct one and
certainly doesn't justify an anathema on the
movement of Rastafari .
Within
Rastafari are many different houses ,
and each have their own point of view when
it comes to the very points that Mark Mohr
brings forward as tenets of Rastafari. This
in itself shows that it cannot be used as
tenet.
Let
me explain this with an example: I cannot
say: one of the tenets of people who love to
drive a car, is that they all believe BMW is
the best car brand. Perhaps every car lover
has an opinion about BMW, perhaps a lot of
car lovers value the BMW over other brands,
but to say that all car lovers believe that
BMW is the best is simply unreal.
So
I believe it is equally impossible to say
that one of the tenets of Rastafari is the belief that Selassie is God or the practice of an
unbiblical veneration of man, whatever that
may be, because it is one of the points of
which almost every Rasta has a different
opinion.
There
are actually Rastafarians who do not believe
that Haile Selassie is God and do not unbiblicaly venerate him. Among them is the leader
of the biggest Rastafarian organization
in the world!
When
I read the interview that Jamaican Radio
station Ire FM has held with the prophet Gad ,
the leader of the biggest Rastafarian
organization, the 12 tribes of Israel, I see
clearly that not all Rastafarian worship
Haile Selassie .
Let
me quote from the interview:
Q:
The 12 Tribes of Israel is seen as closer to
Christianity than other Rastafarian groups.
Is there a basic difference in the doctrine?
A:
"Yes there is a basic difference
because we see Christ, and that die and rose
again, and that die for our sin, we see that
person. So that is, you know, a different
teaching, because is not many see this
teaching, that Christ is the person."
Q:
I want to remind you that we're speaking
with the Prophet Gad who is the leader, the head, the founder of the 12 Tribes of
Israel .
We want to move on now to the doctrine.
Recently we've had much debate on this
program "Running African" and
other programs about the Divinity of His
Majesty the Emperor Haile Selassie as it
relates the return of Jesus Christ. What are
your thoughts on the matter?
A:
"Well, Christ is to return and sit on
the Throne of David, so I strongly believe
that, you know, Christ is going to come and
sit on the Throne of David."
Q:
I want you to.. You said something very
important here and something that may
disturb the Rastafarian Movement in Jamaica
.
Christ, You're talking about the return of
Christ.
A:
"Yes I am talking about the return of
Christ who is going to sit on the throne of
David ."
Q:
Are you making a differentiation between
Jesus Christ and Haile Selassie .
A:
"Yes I am making a differentiation.
Because Christ the same yesterday, today and
forever. And even after His Majesty say, Him
saved not by the man character but by the
blood of Jesus Christ."
When
the leader of the biggest Rastafarian
organization makes such clear statements
about the difference between Rastafari and
Christ ,
I wonder how one can seriously uphold a
definition that Rastafari means believing in
Selassie as God, especially since this
definition is leading to serious situations.
The
prophet Gad says, quoting Selassie, that even Haile Selassie himself needed to be saved by Jesus Christ. I know that Mark
Mohr has also heard this interview, years
ago, so it can't be that he is unaware of
this.
One
of the reasons that I can not agree with
Mohr in his reasonings, is because it comes
to a point in which you almost have to bring
Selassie down in order to be accepted, or
"thought of" as a Christian.
“Thought
of”?
Yes.
It’s
an image thing, after all.
And
that is where another thing comes in. A
serious problem with bizarre consequences.
The
image of Christafari itself, which is obviously based on Rastafarian culture.
When
you are a Christafarian ,
you have to justify the use of dreadlocks,
the Rastafarian colors and symbolism,
language, by taking every spiritual
significance out of it.
It
is, perhaps unwanted, but nevertheless the
inevitable result of Christafarianism
and seriously does short to the Identity of many dreadlocked
Christians who are a part of the Rastafarian
Culture and do not want to deny their Jah Given Identity to see their
hair become an instrument tool for a
reasoning based on a false definition of
Rastafarian culture with it's many houses.
It
is inconsequent to use so much things of a
certain Culture and yet in the same time
label this Culture as a false religion.
There
is a difference between culture and religion
.
Can
you tell the difference between a
Palestinian Christian and a Palestinian
Muslim ?
They both look the same! They eat the same
things
and
they even speak about Allah when the talk
about their God. And no, I do not believe
that the God of Islam and the God of the
Bible are one and the same.
So
every culture can have different religions
.
In one culture you may find a variety of
religions.
Rastafari,
most certainly, is not one religion. It is a
culture with many different views on
Selassie, varying from the Ethiopian
Orthodox Christian point of view to the more esoteric kind. Some houses of Rastafari differ over crucial parts where it comes to Christianity. Some
are clearly identified as Christian, others
not.
Or,
to put it shorter: not all Rastafarians are
Christian, although some are, and not all
Christians are Rastafarians, although some
are.
If
it is not the believe in His Majesty as God,
Mark Mohr also brings up something he calls
"veneration of Selassie ".
I don't know, unfortunately, exactly how
Mark Mohr defines
"veneration".
But
veneration, of course, does not have to be
unscriptural in itself. It means: "to
honor or greatly respect a person or thing".
Is it then unscriptural to regard Haile
Selassie with great respect? Is it worth an
anathema?
The
Ethiopian Orthodox Church, playing a very
important role in the relationship between
Rastafari and Christianity in teachings
concerning His Majesty, tells us something
that might be of great importance here.
Haile
Selassie ,
a devout Christian, was reportedly sad and
cried when he saw the masses in Jamaica
worshipping him as Christ returned, and he
decided to give a gift to the people of
Jamaica ,
a gift in the form of the Ethiopian Orthodox
Church. He sent one of his best students,
brethren Manfredo ,
to become Archbishop of the Ethiopian
Orthodox Church in the western hemisphere.
Brethren
Manfredo, becoming Abuna Yesehaq (Father Isaac), was ordered by Haile Selassie to teach the scriptural right way to honor the king. And not
to worship him as God.
The
Bible gives us the commandment to honor the
king (1 Peter 2:17),
to honor our fellow men (same verse), to
honor our parents (Exodus 20:12), to honor
everyone.
Even
the way the Ethiopians honor Haile Selassie
is closely related to the message of the Bible.
In
short, because of their Solomonic Bloodline
all the Ethiopian kings symbolically point out to the coming
reign of the Messiah.
They’re
Icons Of Christ In His Kingly Character.
Or,
as the evangelicals would put it: Types
of Christ .
If
I regard it as wrong to honor that king, I
am acting unscriptural.
In
spite of all these confusing, contradicting
and sometimes outright abominable elements
in the teachings of Christafari, they are
still being seen as a big authority on
Rastafari by a church-going generation that
lack any knowledge of this movement.
So
it can happen that you can find the
following words in a conversation from one
Christian to the other: “We have read a
lot of lies and misinformation, now let us
share some truth. PLEASE READ the links
along with everthing below as it will give
you A LOT of insight into all of this and
you will not have to be confused anymore.
This
conversation was about Rastafari and one
Christian refers to Christafari with the
words you saw. What Christafari says about
Rastafari is seen as authority. It’s said
that one will not be confused after reading
the messages on the Christafari Website.
Will
they not?
I
doubt that.
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