Do you have to be black to be a rasta?

Hey incense...
No you don't have to be black to be a rasta. But you do have to be black to not look look a dumbass, when flashing gangsigns. For the good of the future of America how about changing that sig? FYI...I'm just kidding and you're cute btw.

 

Why be Christian if you're white? Everybody knows that the only true Christians are the ones from Bethlehem, Nazareth and Jeruselem!

HAHA

 

Who said Whites have to be Christian? If anything, all Europeans should be pagan....

 

werd bro! we need to get back to our roots!

 

I dont think you have to be black to be a rasta but it helps.
I have never actually seen a white rasta and just assumed this is because you would
need to have been brought up as a child into the kind of culture that would have easy access to the knowledge of what it truly means to be a rasta.
I mean a kid growing up into a culture where some or all would know well the philosophy and spiritual knowledge of that religion may aspire to rastafarianism. but a kid growing up with no idea of those values will not adopt enough learnt knowledge and experience, or indeed have role models that would influence the decisions

 

christianity is not an ethnocentric religion. It is for everybody. That is why it grew to its present size. Rastafari IS an ethnocentric religion, and in that aspect, you can't compare it to cristianity. However, you can compare it to judaism. Rastafari is for the blacks, judaism is for the jews. If you're neither, stick to a religion that wants you in their ranks. Really, there's thousands of them, and you can still wear locks and listen to reggae.

I love reggae music and many aspects of rastafari culture and lifestyle, but i find white rastafaris sad.

 

Well according to H.I.M Emperor Haile Selassie I color is not the subject. Now every true Rasta accept H.I.M. as the King of Kings and follow HIS Words.

Well these are some of HIS Words which Bob Marley used in the song "War" :

"Until the philosopy which hold one race superior and another inferior. Until the color of a mans skin is of no more significance than the color of his eyes. Until there's no longer first class or seciond class citizens of any nation - there will be war."

One Love
Prophet7

 

Besides that Rasta is not a religion - it is a way of life. Big difference.

One Love
Prophet7

 

Prophet... these two things (should) go hand in hand (even though sometimes people dont pracrice what they preach)... it is still a religion

 

These 2 things do not go in hand for believing means "to have doubts." Rsata have no doubts. I have explained it to u on the other thread...again, I hope u overstand...

One Love
prophet7

 

Meant Rasta...made a mistake in the spelling.

One Love
prophet7

 

I agree with you. I worship my ancestors gods as well. I am of Irish and Scandinavian heritage and believe in Celtic paganism but that is besides the point.

"Rastafari developed among an oppressed people who felt society had nothing to offer them except more suffering. Rastas may regard themselves as if in conformance to certain visions of how Africans should live, reclaiming what they see as a culture stolen from them when their ancestors were brought on slave ships to Jamaica, the movement's birthplace.

The doctrines of Rastafari depart radically from the norms of the conventional modern western mind, a trait of the movement deliberately encouraged by Rastas themselves. Unlike many modern religious groups that tend to stress conformity toward the "powers-that-be," Rastafari instead stresses loyalty to their concept of "Zion," and rejection of modern society (called Babylon). "Babylon" in this case is considered to be rebelling against "Earth's Rightful Ruler" (JAH) ever since the days of king Nimrod.

This "way of life" is not merely to be given intellectual assent, or "belief" as the term is often used; it is used for the finding and knowledge of one's true identity. To follow and worship JAH Rastafari is to find, spread and "trod" the unique path to which each individual Rasta was rightfully born. (Coincidentally, the word Rasta in various Indo-Iranian languages means "Way" or "Path.")

The religion is difficult to categorize, because Rastafari is not a centralized organization. Individual Rastafari work out their religion for themselves, resulting in a wide variety of beliefs nevertheless also covered under the general umbrella of Rastafari.

Socially, Rastafari is a response to racist negation of black people as it was experienced, both in the world as a whole (where Selassie was the only black leader recognised in international circles), and in Jamaica, where in the 1930s black people were at the bottom of the social order, while white people and their way of religion and system of government were at the top. Marcus Garvey's encouragement of black people to take pride in themselves and their African heritage inspired the Rastas to embrace all things African. They teach that they were brainwashed while in captivity to negate all things black and African. They turned the white image of them--as primitive and straight out of the jungle--into a defiant embrace of the African culture they see as having been stolen from them when they were taken from Africa on the slave ships. Africa is associated with Zion. Africa/Zion is the starting place of all human ancestry as well as the original state of mind that can be reached through meditation and the ganja herb.



Most Rastas now espouse a belief that racial animosities must be set aside, with world peace and harmony being common themes. In fact, some Rastas say that it is not a "religion" at all, but a "way of Life".Today, many Rastas are not just Black African, but are as diverse a crowd as White, Māori, Indonesian, etc. Most Rastas do not identify with any sect or denomination, and thus are encouraged by others in the faith to find inspiration by themselves, though there are three prominent mansions of Rastafari: the Nyahbinghi, the Bobo Ashanti and the Twelve Tribes of Israel. By claiming Jah as the returned Jesus, Rastafari is a new religious movement that has arisen from Christianity, much as Christianity arose from Judaism."


- wikipedia.org

Yes, I believe that it was a state of mind for them because they were being oppressed by the whites back then and times have changed. It should be respected reguardless of what race you are. If you live by it fully and it makes you happy, then let it be. To me a religion is created by freedom from another religion which you do not agree with fully and then rules are applied or changed and cultures are mixed. Either way people who claim to be Rasta and dont follow all of the "rules" and use it as an excuse to smoke ganja are being disrespectful. As for the dreadlocks... they didnt originate from Rastas....the Egyptians were the first... then the Hindus... Vikings (and other Germanic tribes)... Celts... Aztecs... etc.

I'm sorry that this may appear as a rant ... but I cant help it.


And this may be an interesting subject to talk about now... you may already know this but I didnt... with all this research I found this.

In paleoanthropology the recent single-origin hypothesis (RSOH, or Out-of-Africa model, or Replacement Hypothesis) is one of two accounts of the origin of anatomically modern humans, homo sapiens. According to the RSOH, anatomically modern humans evolved in Africa between 100,000 and 200,000 years ago, with members of one branch leaving Africa about 100,000 years ago.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_origin_hypothesis

Then all of this wouldnt matter anyways.

 

Fist post here! & by Gods you have spoken what I have been saying for many, Many years. Europeans ARE Pagan we come from Pagan ancestors. Christianity is a Middle Eastern creation that steamed from Judaism. It does not belong to people of European blood.

 

Truthfully, to be a rasta, you would have to be black because the originals were black and the philosophy stemmed out of this oppression to black people. You can follow everything in the philosophy to the ital diet to the growing of dreads on the spiritual journey dedicated to Jah. You can smoke two joints in the morning, noon and night, but you can't go to Zion. I am white and pondered on the rastafari movement for sometime but i decided not to be a hypocrit. The orginal mansion members were all black. I will say this though, your life is yours, do with it what you will, but i suggest living in peace and Inity. There are lots of guys who wear dreadlocks who is 1 million miles away from rasta, they are like night to day, seen? I know the concept of rasta means rightousness. Beware of these wolves. True rastas will respect the love of jah and treat you equally regardless of skin colour. Why should one be judged by the colour of their skin, instead of the qualities they show from deep within. One love.

 

i see this question in any place rasta's gather, and in any sense, why not look to rastafari himself.

In jah's speech to the UN in, i believe it was 1969 he actually said 'the color of a mans skin is of no more significance than the color of his eye' and then bob marley later made that whole speech into a song called 'war'.

So if rasta himself says skin doesnt matter, then skin doesnt matter, and what about blind rasta? they dont know the difference between black and white, human is human, ya know? if we shut our eyes everyone is the same color.

Its ONE LOVE, not 'some love, some not love'

jah bless all.

 

Nooo my brotha. God made us all. Like Peace Sells said. He wouldn't make every race then exclude all but one from being rasta. You can be a rasta if your black, white, Asian, Mexican, Russian, Indian, etc. It doesn't matter your skin color, just what's in your heart.

Have a Christ Blessed day

 

I am not black but i am just starting to get to know rasta and stuff a bout that but alot of the stuff about it i beleive in. Alot of it is very true and inspiring. I dont call myself a rasta but i beleive in Rastafaria.

 

Does pasta need to be white?

You guys are so so trivial.. Why cant you just be, what you want to be. Without all the stipulations?

 

Do you have to be Jewish to be Jewish?

 

in fact you can pose similar questions in ev'ry religion, don't ya?
"can i be hindu when i'm gay?"
and both answers y/n will have its defenders.
probably buddha himself didn't have female disciples, i do not know, but today it is no problem to practice buddhism for a woman.
so don't mind conservative part of movement a fill your conception of rastafari with a positive meaning with which the color of one's skin does not anything to do...