Rastafarian Religion
Like all other religious groups, the history of Rastafarian religion also commences before the group itself. Marcus Garvey, an influential black spokesman, born in 1887, had directed the philosophical ideologies that eventually lead to the Rastafarian movement (Rick. 2002).
It was in the early 1920's, that Garvey also founder of the "back-to-Africa" movement, often spoke of the redemption of his people as coming from a future black African king (Magical lend, June/July 1994, p. 76) and so on one of the occasion, Garvey announced,
Look to Africa for the crowning of a lack King, he shall be the Redeemer." (The Rastafarians, p. 67).
It was then after only a few years later that prophecy was to be fulfilled in the person of Ethiopia's king, Haile Selassie, as explained by arrett, "in the pantheon of the Rastafarians, Marcus Garvey is second only to Haile Selassie." Thus, Ras Tafari Makonnen, on November 2, 1930,…...
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Bibliography
Eric Bennett. Music- Marley, Bob. 1997. www.africana.com.
Jamaica. Microsoft (R) Encarta (R) 97 Encyclopedia. - 1993-1996 Microsoft
Corporation.
Barrow, Steve and Peter Dalton. Reggae: The Rough Guide quoting Lloyd Prine
It is from this cultural paradigm that emerged the concept of "dread." This term was used as synonymous to "God-fearer," to describe the adherents to Rastafarianism. According to Rastafarian mysticism, JAH (God) was immediately present within each dread.
In European existentialism, the concept appears to be diametrically opposite to that within African philosophy. According to teven Kreis (2006), for example, existential dread is the result of the perceived absence of God or indeed any spirituality or deeper meaning in life. Whereas the Rastafarian dread immerses the soul within the consciousness of God, the existentialist searches for meaning in the very lack and absence of God. Like Rastafarianism, however, the existentialist concept provides meaning within itself: human life is meaningful because it is meaningless: meaning is found within physical and perceived existence.
ources
Arrayed Roots Media (2002). Rastafarian Cultural Page. http://www.geocities.com/arrayedroots/ARCul.html
Kreis, teven (2006). Lecture 12: The Existentialist Frame of Mind. The History Guide
Rastarfarian Movement
The Rastafarian Movement started as a religion in the 1930s in amaica and the spread of the Reggae music in the 1070s transformed it into a political manifest as well as a social movement among those who were underprivileged young people who found in the Rastafari not just a way of life, but also a mean the express themselves in the a world that was governed by the rules set up by a society they felt neglected them.
Sheila Kitzinger write in 1966 an article on the Rastafarians based on her own research results, after personally interviewing some Rastafarians from amaica. She considered them a "social problem for amaica" (Kitzinger, 1966). According to Kitzinger, the "members of the movement worship the emperor Haille Selassie of Ethiopia, and insist that, as their African ancestors were brought unwillingly to amaica as slaves, it is now time to be "repatriated" to the land…...
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Johnson-Hill, J.A. 1995. I-Sight: The World of Rastafari: An Interpretive Sociological Account of Rastafarian Ethics. Evanston Kitzinger, S. 1996. The Rastafarian Brethren of Jamaica. Comparative Studies in Society and History. Vol. 9. No. 1. (Oct, 1966). Pp. 33-39
Savishinsky, N.J. 1994. Rastafari in the Promised Land: The Spread of the Jamaican Socioreligious Movement Among the Youth of the West Africa. African Studies Review, Vol. 37, No. 3. (Dec. 1994) pp. 19-50
Simpson, G.E. 1985. Religion and Justice: Some Reflections on the Rastafari Movement. Phylon (1960-), Vol. 46, No. 4 (4th Qtr., 1985), pp. 286-291
..the astas have now penetrated the middle class. At present, the overwhelming majority of members are African, but there are also Chinese, East Indians, Afro-Chinese, Afro-Jews, mulattoes, and a few whites. astafarians are predominantly ex-Christians. "(Barrett, 1997, p. 2-3)
One of the early innovators and leaders of the movement,
Leonard Howell, stated a number of principles that have been the hallmark of astafarianism and still apply to a large extent today. These include the following:
1)hatred for the White race; (2) the complete superiority of the Black race; (3) revenge on Whites for their wickedness; (4) the negation, persecution, and humiliation of the government and legal bodies of Jamaica; (5) preparation to go back to Africa; and (6) acknowledging Emperor Haile Selassie as the Supreme Being and only ruler of Black people. (Barrett, 1997, p. 85)
Another essential aspect which is of cardinal importance in astafarianism is the concept of I and I. This…...
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RASTAFARI: ACCORDING TO THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN
Rastafarianism. Retrieved 5 November 2006, at Royackers, M. (1999). Jamaica Genesis: Religion and the Politics of Moral Orders. Theological Studies, 60(2), 387. Retrieved November 7, 2006, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5001267576Vertovec , S. (2001). Transnationalism and Identity. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 27(4), 573+. Retrieved November 7, 2006, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5000908861Wardle , H. (2003). Anthropology and History. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 9(4), 794+. Retrieved November 7, 2006, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5002070480http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/rast.htm .
incongruous to try to compare the artists illiam Shakespeare and Bob Marley. These two men, separated by centuries and embodying two very different forms of art, both make up part of the history of popular culture. One man is considered the premiere playwright in the history of the English language, a man whose name is synonymous with high culture. The other man is known for his success in a musical genre and a culture that uses a different meaning for the word high. hat could these men possible have in common one might ask? Examining the history and writings of both Renaissance writer illiam Shakespeare and reggae musician Bob Marley it becomes evident that they both use emotional appeals and heavy symbolism to prove points about the human condition and to promote understanding between people from different stations of life, all of which are used to persuade others that…...
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Works Cited:
Backus, Truman J. 1897. "William Shakespeare." The Outlines of Literature: English and American. Sheldon: NY. 90-102.
Laroque, Francois. The Age of Shakespeare. Harry N. Abrams: London.
Marly, Bob, 1973. "Get Up, Stand Up." Burnin'. Tuff Gong.
Marley, Bob, 1973. "I Shot the Sheriff." Burnin'. Tuff Gong.
It deals with the recent problems created by colonialism and slavery, as a result of hite domination in the 20th and now the 21st century. Rastafarianism is located in the 'here and now' in terms of its millennial ideology. Ethiopia and the idea of Ethiopianism underline the messianic "cult" of the Rastafarians who view Haile Selassie, former Emperor of Ethiopia, as a kind of Black Messiah. (Barrett 2) In this worldview, Ethiopia functions as a kind of Israel, as it was one of the few African nations not to be subject to extended periods of colonial control. The Rastafarian cult's ideology is thus a kind of idealized return to origins, but not of the far past, like many native, older Caribbean religions, but the recent past history of the island. It also attempts to connect all Black persons in one common quest to escape the colonial past, rather than…...
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Works Cited
Barrett, Leonard. E. (Sr.) The Rastafarians. Boston: Beacon Press, 20th Anniversary edition, 1997.
(Krukowski, 2001) Civil religion and workplace mysticism each change the institutional locus of religious expression from the church, synagogue, or mosque to another public organization- the state or the company. The existence of these different organizations hoists the main question of individuality and perhaps challenging faithfulness.
Both civil religion and workplace theology do not show the likely clashes and problems often met by employees who are also religious practitioners. Jews, Christians, or Muslims who are workforce of a company may well have grounds to question the customs of their company on religio-moral basis. Workplace theology in a funded organization does not distinguish these possible clashes. Institutionally conveying workplace theology is obviously not identical with permitting individual employees to convey their beliefs and customs at work. This grave outlook of workplace theology should not be realized, as a censure of persons who want to live out their definite religious or spiritual…...
Deveney, William D. (September-October, 2004) "Religious Harassment Claims: Case Studies in Good Faith." No. 05-05. Retrieved at Accessed on 4 February, 2005http://www.etsw.com/NewsletterLB/2004_09-10.pdf .
46). Nowadays, Rastafarianism is a strong Jamaican tradition.
Reggae Music
Also tied to the experience of social oppression was the growing popularity for the emerging Reggae music. Reggae music came directly out of the religious fervor of the Rastafarians and their desire to remove themselves from the constraints of traditional society through forms of protest. Jamaica had long been experiencing tumultuous political tensions, which proved the perfect breeding grounds for Rastafarianism and the musical traditions which came with it. Early in the 1950s, a new musical sound named Ska came out of Jamaican indigenous music, American jazz, and rhythm and blues. According to research, "On the surface, ska was happy content -- even cheery -- music. But if one listened closely between the polrhythmic pulses of the music, ska was as deceptive as the government's attempt to paint the country with a color-blind palette of national unity," (King et al. 4).…...
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Works Cited
Dolin, Kasey Qynn. "Words, Sounds, and Power in Jamaican Rastafari." Middle Atlantic Council of Latin American Studies. 2001.
King, Stephen; Barry, T. Bays; & Foster, Renee. Reggae, Rastafari, and the Rhetoric of Social Control. University Press of Mississippi. 2002.
Knipe, Ed. Culture, Society, and Drugs: The Social Science Approach to Drug Use. Prospect Heights: Illinois. 1995.
Wardle, Huon. "Anthropology and History." Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute. 2002. 9(4):793-796.
No matter how great the musician, music is always the expression of an entire culture, of a moment in history, of a particular place in time. The genius of a particular musician, the synergy of a particular group - these are both essential to the success or failure of a particular group. But that success or failure is never intrinsic to a single song, to a single album. Music that succeeds - both in its own time and later - does so because it has the ability to express something important about that moment in time. eggae has been able to provide just such an expression of the beliefs of a particular people at a moment in history for the last two years - and it has been able to do so because of its ability to change with larger political and cultural…...
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