| Until
now, we have established that Christafari
wants to draw a clear line between them and
Rastafari, a line that is not founded on a
proper definition of the movement. We also
came to see how they are in the same time
using the symbology of Rastafari to “be like a Rasta”, based on a wrong use of a certain
scripture.
If
you summarize Christafarianism in one
sentence, the absurdity becomes clear:
Christafarianism doesn’t only say: Be
Like A Rasta ,
but also Don’t Be A Rasta
.
He
also seems to respond to something I wrote
in an earlier meditation: "Although
some Rastafarians have the same look on His
Majesty and Christ Jesus as I do, and
therefore I could call myself a Rastafarian
without a doubt, I wish to call myself
Messian Dread".
From
the same answer, to the question if
Christians should call themselves Rastas, I
quote Mark Mohr again in the following
words:
Yet
some may still argue that they are
"Rastafarians," meaning that they
follow the teachings and example of
"Rastafari." They don't worship
him, they simply admire his faith and
actions. But Selassie (Rastafari) was a
Christian. He followed Christ. So don't
follow Selassie, follow whom he
followed--Jesus. Now I know that this
statement may seem contrary to modern-day
Christianity, for within the Protestant
reformation there are followers of Martin
Luther (Lutherans), John Wesley (Wesleyans),
and John Calvin (Calvinists). But I am sure
that if Selassie or any of these other men
were alive today, they would strongly
encourage you to follow Christ, not mere
men, and to call oneself a Christian as they
did. In 1 Corinthians 1:10-13, Paul wrote:
"I appeal to you, brothers, in the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you
agree with one another so that there may be
no divisions among you and that you may be
perfectly united in mind and thought. My
brothers, some from Chloe's household have
informed me that there are quarrels among
you. What I mean is this: One of you says,
'I follow Paul'; another, 'I follow Apollos';
another, 'I follow Cephas'; still another,
'I follow Christ .'
Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of
Paul?" So I ask; Why attempt to divide
Christ? Was Haile Selassie (Ras Tafari) crucified for you? Were you baptized into His
name? As for me, I am a Christian, a
follower of "The Way," a disciple
of Christ, and bondservant for His namesake.
I would never choose to represent my faith
with an appellation that drew attention away
from Jesus--"lest the cross of Christ
be emptied of its power" (1Cor 1:17)
Personally
I was shocked when read these words the
first time. It was in an e-mail sent to me
by a close associate of Christafari whom I will not name, disagreeing with my meditations and it
was presented as for me.
The
letter stated that I was “misleading”
people and then went on quoting the above.
I
was shocked, and might I say, also a little
offended by the interpretation of the
Scripture.
But
fortunately I could still see a little bit
of humor in this all too.
Since
Christafari calls their fans and following
"Christafarians ",
maybe these fans get mail from people asking
if they were baptized in the name of
Christafari, or if Christafari was crucified
for them.
But
let us analyze the Bible interpretation that
Christafari uses to condemn Christians in
the movement of Rastafari as “serious
misleaders”.
Mark
Mohr says that you cannot call yourself a
Rasta ,
because the Bible supposedly is against
following men. He then names a bible
scripture that seems to speak about this.
Paulus
speaks about divisions in the church, where
there are different groups quarrelling and
fighting each other. One says: "I am of
Paul ",
another says, "I am of Peter ",
and a third, not unimportant but overlooked
by Mohr, "I am of Jesus".
This
scripture teaches not that it is wrong to
say I follow Paul ,
for this very same Paulus elsewhere in scriptures tells people to follow him like he
followed Christ.
You could even argue that if this scripture
is actually saying what Mohr claims it says,
the Bible would then teach it is wrong to
call yourself a Christian and follow Yesus.
This scripture says it is wrong to divide
yourself as body of Christ into groups and
put labels on these groups to express this
difference.
Because
Paul, Peter (Cephas), and Jesus are all
saying the same thing. Peter and Paul did not contradict Jesus.
It
is a little funny to see Mohr using this
scripture because after quoting it, he says:
"As for me, I am of Christ ".
I think he is acting against the very
scripture he uses to make his point: the
ones quoted in the scripture saying about
themselves "I am of Christ" were
doing this in order to distinguish
themselves from others.
No,
just like the “all thing to all men
”
scripture turned out to deal with something
else than where Christafarianism claims it is intended for, this scripture is not about showing
the Christian Rastafarians how wrong they are, on the contrary: is about excluding each
other based on names. A thing
Christafarianism does with Rastafarians who
do not wish to change their Identity to
become a Babylonian.
They
say: “You can’t call yourself Rasta, you
can only pretend to be one.”
You
can easily see how this is a call to
manipulation …
That’s
in the face of all those who know themselves
to be a part of Rastafari and a part of
Christianity.
Kind
of tuff…
|
