Do you have to be black to be a rasta?

I think so but I'm not sure.

 

Yes, aint know cracka's gonna be part of dem fake christianity.

 

yes

 

NO MAN!!
Jah made EVERYBODY! EVERY RACE!
Why would he make a faith which only a certain people could be part of. RASTAFARI IS TOTALLY INIVERSAL!
for EVERYONE!
Jah loves EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US!

 

I agree w/ Peace sell man. Y should any religion discriminate anyway?

 

You do not have to be black to be rasta...
Where as it is one of the foundations that Blacks are superior to Whites, it does not refer to race...it refers to Black being the oppressed, white being the establishment, slavery, in other words...Bablyon.
Anyone who believes that you have to be black to be rasta only looks at the exterior of the cult. I'm sure everyone here has heard the song "War" by Bob, right? It was not written by Bob, as much as it was a speech by H.I.M. Heile Selassie I. to the U.N. in the 70's. And yes, it could be said, Heile Selassie I. was not Rasta, but instead Ethiopian Orthodox, but, his word is command as the living god, and he preached and harped on EQUAL rights.
Last point, Ras Brown (Sam Brown) who ran for Prime Minister in Jamaica ran on a basis of 21 points, or principles. One of them said (I can't remember exactly which one, I believe it was the 18th or the 19th) "We invite man of any color to join I and I in this struggle, as long as he realizes the evils that has been done."
Also, in addition, Rastafarian is, by choice, a leader less religion, in which we choose to be so, so that we may not be brought a stray by a self proclaimed prophet or messiah.

Jah Bless...

 

YAY! People used to make fun of me because I was always very interested in rasta, and they'd be like....YOU'RE JUST A WHITE GIRL! But I knew you didn't have to be black!!

 

A rasta is a primal human, who lives as close to the earth and love as possible. All humans are supposed to be rastas.

 

According to some Bobo Shanti (the second largest and less heard about group within rastafari), only blacks can be rastas... and they even go so far as to say that whites are decended from the amalkites of the bible. These guys are not your average Rasta that u see on the tv, they tend to stay away from the spot light. They wear turbans to cover their dreads and carry a sweeping brush to show they are clean and thus pure.
Their beliefs are different to the stereotyped (nyabinghi sect) rasta. One bobo that i talked to even said that Bob Marley was "a nothing" and "a confusion of genetics", because his father was white.
Maybe not all bobos are that extreme (i hope they arent). I can only talk from my experience of them.
Peace and Love

 

Nah you don't have to be black. Yet there are many other ways to interpret Christianity and still smoke weed if thats what your after. If you want dreds, a white mans straight hair cannont even get them the natural way, which is what dredlocking is all about. Not just because it looks so rad. Straight hair needs foreign products, instead greasy stringy longhair like Kurt Cobain or any rock icon of the 70s is the same effect on a white dude. It just shows how Jah spirals your hair in the natural way of the universe. So cut the aspects of the weed and dred locks out of it would you still want to be a rasta?

If you truly are beyond those aspects of the religion then I guess its fine to whoever beleives.

Also Irish Hippy, your picture there should show Adolf HItler and Ariel Sharon and the Israeli flag. Not the USA and Bush. They are the ones instigating a racist apartheid state, that is trying to force the thousand year native Palestinians out of their homeland.

 

I'm white...so what

 

Give Thanks and Praises unto Jah Most I.

Brothers and Sisters,

One cannot be Rasta inspite of the fact that one is white. One must be Rasta BECAUSE one is white. Rastafari is not about being something you are not. Rasta is living in FULLNESS, being exactly who and what Jah Almighty created the I to be. So if you are a White Rasta, be a true, strong, upful Iropean Rasta Person. Be everything that you can be and more. In Rastafari your cup will runneth over. ALL PEOPLE must be proud and free to be what God made them to be. Jah makes us all different colors, but these small differences really emphasize our similarities. Red and Yellow, Black and White, each is precious in His sight. Shame has no place in Rastafari. Be strong.

Jah Love.

From H.I.M. Haile Sellassie himself

 

Just dont do it for the weed and dredlocks or else your a poser.

 

Ive got natural dreads Nimrod, just dont brush my hair, European hair locks up, only an idiot would thing otherwise. I have never used anything, except bees wax occasionally to cut down "frizz". I have nice curley Alpine hair though.

As to rasta, it is a black religion, its africacentric, and very semitic, and not european at all. "Jah" is just one more version of the asshole Semite god who wants all to think he is the only one. Why go Rasta? The Christian version loves everyone apparently too dont he?, so does the Jewish one.

Why would you want to be rasta if you are white? You want to wear dreads, smoke pot, and burn nag champa? Be a bob marley fan, dont bring religion into it.

 

Many people trust in it.

 

Heron, Heile Sellassie never claimed to be God, not once...when a group of Rasta's went to Ethopia and requested a meeting with him, he had them thrown out for looking so shabby...

It is true that rasta has many features close to the Christian and Jewish faith, but it is born out of slavery and poverty.

A true rasta is not about "getting high" or wearing dreads, there are many rasta sympathizers that for various reasons do not wear locks. For pot, a leading brethern leader, Count Ossie, said "To much Kaya makes for a feeble mind"

I understand that you can't identify with it, but I don't understand why you bash it

 

I never bashed rasta, like I could have at least, i was pointing out the afrocentric philosophies, I was bashing white suburban posers.

 

I dont see the point of being a rasta if you're white, it's not really relative to you in any way if you are.

 

what do you mean?

 

Its just like trying to be a Samurai because you study Bushido.

Its like yea you can be an excellent martial artist and follow the ways of Bushido but unless you lived in Feudal Japan and served an Emporer. Your just a tad out of character no matter how "true" you are.