Funny thing about rasta

You know, we have all these people in the forums talking about this and that, talking like they know everything bout rasta...have any of you yet to pick up a book, or maybe the bible and read as to why and how rasta came to be?

I hear so much about Selassie and such, barely one comment about Marcus Garvey, Count Ossie, the communes, the brethern...

I read a book called the rastafarians, in which a sociologist went and lived in different communes for a while...at a monthly meeting, he started totake pictures of some dreads, at which he was all most stoned (not the hahaha herb that everyone here tries to glorify), and everyone started yelling: "Bablyon, Babylon!" Refering to his camera

You guys that run around saying I and I refering to yourself, or saying other rasta slang that you heard in some reggae song...grow up...learn about it, then spread it...

Ever wonder why there's no RastaFari Website...hummm?

 

Thank You!!!!!!!!

 

It makes the-I sad to feel the bad vibes coming from this thread.
I feel judged just for using the internet.
What you say about the camera thing, well, that's people who aren't actually trapped in babylon, say what you like but some of us are, so why not use things to the potential, spread the good news.
InI TALK LIKE THAT PURELY OUT OF 1. RASPECT and 2. fe the fact that words, are just words, why are you so bothered how someone talks. What if I chose to write in french, would you say YOU ARE NOT FRENCH you have no place to speak like that. So What happened to Inity. What happened to freedom of speech. Yes I am English, but I believe InI were ALL from Africa. One world. One love.
I will pray for you to not have so much negativity in your next post.
There ARE Rasta websites. they are growing. search on Google I got "132,000" websites.. and you'll see that easy! there's IRASCOM, RASTA ITES, and Many more. these are the best.

 

so basically you've read 1 book and now think you're an expert....and are trying to pick holes at people that do not conform to the stereotype that _YOU_ have created in your head from reading this one book, in an effort to show how knowledgeable you are. Well done!

 

actually, i have read more than one book, i do not claim to be an expert but I and I isnt really the right term to refer to yourself, I and I is more of a "me and my community" or "me and my people" term. I get the feeling that a lot of the people who claim rasta on here know very little about it, I woldnt claim anything untill I had done my reasearch on it. Rasta is not about being a hippie and I think people on the forums often think that hippie and rasta are the same thing. Why wold you try to type with a Jamaican accent on the internet?

Do you know who Marcus Garvey is??
Do you realize that rasta is not about glorifying pot??

It is easy to mis-understand rasta beliefs. Not all rasta are peaceful people, some had to resort to violence because they were being opressed, they refused to let people walk all over them.

If you are interested in learning more sometimes you have to pick up a book and open your mind...

And not trying to sound rude or mean but definately don't base all your beleifs on a few Bob Marley songs...........




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Im sorry to say but I agree with daisys. U have read a book and now u feel u can say that some1 is not themselves because they don’t conform to your concept of what that label is. There is as many different forms of rastafari as there are people who practice it, as it is a way of life more then a religon. Not even all Jamaican Rastas accept everything in rastafari, it is a truly personal rather then dogmatic approach to spirituality.
I don’t know where u got this stuff about community from but as far as I am aware, ini means reduce the possibility of enmity between people by instead of distancing ourselves into different people we all become “i”, such is ONE love.
And to many rastafari we live in Babylon, and (especially in the modern day and age) English is the language of Babylon, so they may choose that though they can only speak English, they do not have to speak it in the same manner as Babylonians do.
Again you talk about your book to open your mind, but your book was written by a non-rasta therefore it is unreliable, because he will not understand what anything means from the depths of his soul, and if you don’t understand a subject how can u teach it.
Im not trying to sound rude to you sister, but you are trying to tell people that they can not be themselves or who they want to be because you have read a book and think they are wrong. Who ever said they want to be like your ideas??? Afterall they are only the ideas of you and the person who wrote this book, so I think I am of the same opinion as others (judging by the replys you have gotten) in saying, please keep your personal ideas to yourself and allow others to get on with their life in whatever way makes them happy, and you do whatever makes you happy.
Peace and love to you all

 

you speak of rasta as it is a new age philosphy...if i asked you to show me some saying;s by leading members of large brethern, what would you say? it is a fact that many many people listen to a few rasta artists, be it inner circle, steel pulse, bob, peter tosh, the i three's, or anyone else, think they have it figured it out, without ever really researching it (in the whole bible), pretent to understand it...and they still do not understand the meaning of it...and how can you say that it is not reliable, because it was written by a non rasta? was selassie rasta...NO...come on people, and you wonder why no one takes young people serious anymore...how can you say it's more "personal" then a dogmatic religion...it's a RELIGION that believes in a MESSIAH...or are you going to tell me that not all rasta Farian's believe that Rasta Faria WAS THE LIVING GOD? and as far as my complaint with the I and I thing goes, it was directed at the people when asked a question of "Do you personally believe this or that" they were answering with "i and i believe this to be true", as either they are legion (as in they are many) or they are answering for more then just themselves...and what's this thee-I? nice, real nice, let's take one of the last pure, self thinking believes and make it our "lil internet religions...

 

and i have read more then one book, it took me a long time to find a belief that i can idenitify with...and just as if i was a strong christian, i would attack all "sunday christians" and now, all you people who quote the honoable robert marley..."I don't want my people to be fooled by false prophets!"

 

yeah its kind of like.....someone in the 21st century trying to be like a hippy from the 70s

 

nowhere in this post does it show that this is the only book that i have read....ok, here we go, critical thinking 101...I and I (you like that, I'm mocking you, you guys can talk trash about this too) saying "I read a book" is VERY VERY different then I and I (you can talk smack about this one too) saying "this is the only book i have ever read in my entire life"

 

look funky...... just accept u are not an expert on this subject (and dont think i am claiming to be one either i dont even claim to be a rasta, nor is anyone on this thread claiming to be 1)...and stop trying to preach to everyone. Very good you have read your book and you are a scholar now, so keep your opinions to yourself please. im sorry if im coming across harshly, but i have to admit that the fact you couldnt give it a rest IS a little annoying. But just for the record there ARE rastas that dont believe selassi is God, even within the nyabinghi order.
So at the end of the day just accept that Rastafari is different to other paths as it is personal (ie individual, the person discovers it by themselves through study, not taught it through dogma), and that people can believe WATEVER they want in it...this is part of the idea of "no isms skisms" (ie no groups to be made that could fight against eachother, just personal search for the truth).
Anyway sis, im not posting again on this thread or topic...so if you want to continue the rant you are more then welcome.......and i hope that there is no ill will between us now, cuz i certainly hold no ill will towards you .
peace and love sis

 

if everyone on hip forums kept their opinions to themselves, then hip forums wouldn't exist...fine, no ill will between us...as i believe that you do not have a clue of what you are talking about...selassie not excepted as the living god...phhh...man, that would be like being a jew for christ...but whatever, all it's going to boil down to is me thinking your full of shit, and you thinking the same of me...and lastely, the nyabinghi (as far as I know) is a month long celebration in honor of H.I.M. Heile Selassie I. But, you, who do not claim, by your own words to be rasta, probably know more then me, even though you still can't get it through your thick skull that i quoted one story out of ONE OF THE BOOKS that i read...

 

ok sister,
i saw your post and even though i said i was not going to post again, i felt i needed to, because your posting was VERY hostile (and i assume mine must have seemed to have been to, thats why i got such a responce, so i am sorry i really didnt mean for it to appear that way), so i felt i needed to post a reply to stop the arguement where i honestly thought there was none.
Now ok, i just wanted to clear a few things, but not at all in a hostile way. As far as im concerned, being a hippy or on hippy.com is about making the world a better place. And true that that often does come down to criticising people for their actions, but thats ONLY when it will make the world a better place. Therefore criticising things they may have done, like dumping or killing or polluting etc., is acceptable, but criticising there personal character for no reason other then u do not like the fact they say "ini" instaed of "i" (etc.), is not really something that is usually attributed to members of the hippy movement. Its quite the opposite actually from my experience, as Hippies are famed for being the MOST accepting sub-culture ever created, with the aim of peace and love as its sole goal. This is the reason why i got angered by your actions of saying that they have no right to say "ini" and other things practiced by the rasta community on hippy.com.
Now about selassi not being accepted as God or the "Living God" by EVERY SINGLE rastafari. Well first off u need to understand what the nyabinghi order is. I am not trying to preach here myself, but you dont seem to know so ill just explain VERY briefly if it is alright. All Rastas are not the same, like i told u before. In Rastafari there are 3 predominant sects, and even within these sects people differ on beliefs. They are 1) the Niyabinghi order, 2) the Bobo Shanti, and 3) The Twelve Tribes (for a little more info look at http://www.jamaicans.com/culture/rasta/rasta_sects.htm , dont worry its still quite brief).
Now i dont know too much about the twelve tribes, but i know that the Bobo Shanti are EXTREMELY different to the Nyabinghi (the type Bob Marley was and that worship Selassi usually as a christ like figure). One Bobo Shanti i spoke to said that Selassi "had issues" and Bob Marley was "just a confusion of genetics"(due to the fact his father was white, and Bobos are MILITANTLY anti-white, and infact they teach that whites are decended from the Amorites of the bible and thus have no soul).
So anyway to answer, the Niyabinghi order are the "common" variety of Rasta. And within the nyabinghi order there is no centralised hierarchy (so no pope in rome for the niyabinghi, or any other leader that is accepted by all). On top of this, there is also no universally accepted dogma (religous imperatives in faith, or religous beliefs that you HAVE to accept). So whilst the VAST VAST VAST majority believe Haile Selassi to be "the living God" (as you said they did), just understand there ARE some Rastas that neither accept nor believe this. And not only are there some Rastafari that believe that Haile Selassi was not God but rather like a Great Prophet and Saint.....but they are also accepted by the rest of the Rasta community, as (similar to the hippy culture) everyone accepts that everyone has the right to believe whatever they choose to in Rastafari, as it is a way of life rather then religon (as i previously quoted, this is all sumed up in the common Rasta saying "NO isms skims").
Anyway, yea im sorry if i appeared harsh with you before, and i REALLY dont bear any ill will towards you. So lets just leave our little rants on this thread and forget about them, heh?
Cool stuff, so talk to you sometime sis.
peace and love

(ps....coincidentally, there ARE some jew that believe in jesus as their saviour. They are causing a BIG stir in the jewish community at the moment. They are called the "Jews for Jesus". One of there sites is http://www.jewsforjesus.org/ , though they are ALL over the net.
Just thought that might interest you .
well see ya later)

 

I love ya Funky and think your swell...but seriously, chill out! To me it sounds like you started this thread with the sole purpose of judging folks and how they came to find what they beleive in.


Who cares if someone bases their beleifes on a few Bob Marely songs? If it makes them happy then cool.

 

this whole thread was completely misinterprated...

the whole thing was i was just wondering who knew more about rasta than what they have heard from reggae music............

it didnt turn into an arguement untill i was attacked by people bashing me saying i don't know anything because they interprated my thread as saying "i read one book, i am the high priestess of rasta now"

i never claimed to be an expert, i was justy trying to get a bit more conversating going on in here since most threads i saw were about dreads and weed, since rasta is about more than that.

but if I feel I am attacked I see no problem with trying to back myself up and let everyone know where I am coming from!!!

all I meant by this was.... don't preach what you don't know. it is hard to try and teach someone the whole concept of rasta by just saying "one love"
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But you just seem to angry... .IMO, if "One Love" makes you a better person then so be it. And maybe people who are what you call "preaching what they don't know" really are preaching what they do know in their heart. No-one has the right answere to any type of beleife or religon. And I don't beleive anyone has the right to tell them what they can and can't "preach" to others.