Monday, May 7, 2007
Rastafarism
The lecture on rastafarism intrigued me immensely. I was very interested in the idea of a religion centered around music. Rastafarians connect to their deity through their playing and listening to music. This is a very different approach to religion than we have talked about in the past. Rastafarians do not care what others think of them but rather enjoy their religion and love their individuality. I feel that Rastafarians become closer to each other because they differ so vastly within the religious community. Rastafarism took a man and made him into their God, worshiping him in different ways than any other religion. This religion was posed towards those that were suppressed and brought them together into a community. This religion worships everything wonderful in the world, peace, love and equality. I felt Bob Marley was a perfect Rastafarian to examine due to his deep belief in Rastafarism. You could feel his love for his religion through his music. You could see how moved he was by the religion he sang about. It is a beautiful thing to see a religion move someone so much as Rastafarians. I believe that other religions should focus more on love and peace, rather than other topics such as hate.
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Rastafarianism is not a religion... Rastafarianisim is not a religion, it is a group of people who go under the the name of rastafari. Many people view Rastafarian as a none Christian faith. This is a myth! The name Rasta comes from a shorten version of Rastafarian being one of the names of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I, who directs his people to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. His Majesty is the head of the Orthodox Church and on many occasions he has encouraged all God's people to keep the 10 commandments. These speeches are recorded and written down. As stated above the basic beliefs of a Rasta is to uphold the truth and defend good over evil, to do the will of God here on earth. These are the teachings of God.
Rasta stands for universal love, a higher spiritual ideal that is not usually emphasized in the mainstream of Western society. To be a Rasta is to be a righteous person, continuously seeking to improve SELF. This process of self discovery is further clarified by the words of a St Lucian Rasta who said "The word Rasta as I understand it means purely, the power that lies within any man which enables him to do anything he wants... To be a Rasta therefore is to be conscious of that divine power, and to be developing one's power potential for achievement... Rasta becomes therefore a philosophy of life fulfillment". Rasta does not seek to conform to the norms of this society, which are steeped in racism, sexism, neo colonialism and injustice. The norm of this society is the relentless pursuit of carnal gratification and one doesn't have to look hard to see where all this alcohol, sacredless sex, and materialistic living is taking us. It is taking our people down a wide road of great karmic consequences. Salvation cannot be found in worldly material possessions, but rather by experiences of divine proportions.
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