Rastafari Movement
The Rastafari movement is a new monotheistic faith, which believes in one God. It in fact professes that Haile Selassie, the former and final emperor of Ethiopia, is the incarnation of God and is referred to as Jah or Jah Rastafari. Haile Selassie is the physical body, through which the Christian concept of the Trinity exhibits it’s power on earth. Hence, Haile Selassie is the Holy Trinity. This movement originated in the 1930s and it’s approximately 700,000 followers are centered in Jamaica, Caribbean and Africa. Characteristics of this movement are: Rastafari literally means head and it is an Ethiopian title equivalent to Duke elsewhere. Rasta accept the Christian doctrine that God appeared on earth, in the form of Jesus, to teach humanity but feel that these teachings have been coruputed by western society. Rasta believe that since man originated in Africa that Jesus was black and that white society has shown him as white in order to suppress the truth and gain control over all peoples. Since God cannot die, Rasta believe that Haile Selassie’s death in 1975 was a hoax and that he is still alive and will return to power to liberate all believers. Rastafari belief is in one God and does not believe in an afterlife hence there is no consideration of the paranormal. It is considered more a “messianic religious political movement which had it’s origins in the slums of Jamaica in the 1920s. Rastafarians do not believe in an afterlife, but instead look to Africa (called "Zion") as a heaven on earth. True Rastas are believed to be immortal, both physically and spiritually, a concept called "everliving." It’s founder, Marcus Garvey (1887-1940) was a black Jamaican who taught that Africans were the true Israelites and were exiled to Jamaica and other parts of the world as divine punishment. The Rastafari lifestyle includes the religious use of marijuana, no alcohol, the wearing of the hair in dreadlocks and vegetarianism. It in fact professes that Haile Selassie, the former and final emperor of Ethiopia, is the incarnation of God and is referred to as Jah or Jah Rastafari. However Marcus Garvey did not think highly of him and considered him to in collusion with the English white oppressors. His followers however believe Haile Selassie is the physical body, through which the Christian concept of the Trinity exhibits it’s power on earth. Hence, Haile Selassie is the Holy Trinity. Selassie was deposed in 1974 in a military coup and kept under house arrest until he was apparently killed by his captors in 1975. Many Rastas believed that his death was a hoax, and that he lives on in hiding until the Day of Judgment. Others say that he lives on through individual Rastafarians. This movement originated in the 1930s and it’s approximately 700,000 followers are centered in Jamaica, Caribbean and Africa.Rastafari literally means head and it is an Ethiopian title equivalent to Duke elsewhere.
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