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25910 Posts in 9966 Topics by 982 Members Latest Member: - Ferguson Most online today: 46 (July 03, 2005, 06:25:30 PM)
+  Africa Speaks Reasoning Forum
|-+  SCIENCE, SOCIOLOGY, RELIGION
| |-+  Mainstream Religion (Moderator: Tyehimba)
| | |-+  rastafari=christianity
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Author Topic: rastafari=christianity  (Read 72923 times)
iyah360
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Higher Reasoning


« Reply #30 on: April 01, 2004, 07:41:46 AM »

out of Blackness and the womb of the mother is from all are born and which all return to when passing. this is a scary and POWERFUL realization, and I think some in history have tried to repress/humiliate and downgrade in psychological rebellion against the inevitable.

Quote
.Thanks to all who responded to my initial post and thanks to all who helped it progress to other ideas that all correlate. Everything points back to the original. The last responses pointed back to the original. The original being woman, which is not only a title, but an ideal, a perfected system and the only means by which to experience freedom. Everything is borne of something children, ideas, etc. The entity that gave birth is feminine and is worthy of being praised, reflected upon, and embraced. My question now is why is it that women must take the back role in so called progressive religion?  Isn't this destructive behaviour?

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gman
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AfricaSpeaks


« Reply #31 on: April 02, 2004, 10:34:41 AM »

BantuKelani:
  I don't know how to do the little boxes with quotes, but I'm replying to your message where you said Rastafari is not true to nature and betrays original African traditions.
  I would agree with what Iyah360 said in relation to that. At least in the Caribbean, it has been Rastas who have spearheaded respect for nature and our fellow beings (animals and plants). Rastas were vegetarians when this was virtually unheard of in industrialized countries (and they were looked at as being very 'weird' in our own countries for such practices). Rastas throughout the caribbean have been known for their long sojourns in the hills, amongst the natural elements, living in harmony with and paying respect to those elements. Rastas preserved the folk knowledge of the healing powers of herbs, etc. (not only the one herb) passed down from Africa (and also transmitted from the Amerindians in some cases). True, most Rastas had a very patriarchal concept in the beginning, but then they came from a very patriarchal society. Unlike other groupings which remain stagnant in one position, Rastafari has evolved and grown, and now I would say that there are a GREAT MANY Rastafari (can't say percentages) who acknowledge the female principle of divinity alongside the male. That's certainly the attitude of the majority of Guyanese Rastas who I know personally (not saying that means they represent the majority of Guyanese Rastas as a whole).
Also in Trini I know there are Rastas who are also Shango/Spiritual Baptist, and find no contradiction with the two.
I think you may be taking your personal experiences with some Rastas, and generalizing from there to Rastafari in general. Rastafari is nowhere near a homogenous group, in fact it must be one of the least homogenous of any "religion"/spiritual group/belief-knowledge system or whatever you want to call it. There really are VERY few things that ALL Rastas agree on, making it all but impossible to make generalizations about Rastafari.
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Bantu_Kelani
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« Reply #32 on: April 03, 2004, 04:38:03 AM »

Gman, the perspective of few Guyanese Rastafarians is irrelevant. The fact is the Rastafarian movement is something patriarchal to a great number of various Rastafarian groups and camps WORLDWIDE and thus essentially does not embrace the creed, code and cult of ancestral African tradition..I know Rastafari has never been a homogenous movement. I am not saying all Blacks should not embrace Rastafari. I simply value African traditional religion more than I value Black Judeo-Christian cultures; just my preference. When Rastafarians claim they practice the philosophy, beliefs or faith of our indigenous people while the great majority still describe the movement from a masculine perspective, it is my duty to strike back and give the original African point of view, less sexist in its spirituality.

It is a free world, it is your right and those like you to embrace the Rastafari culture if you want, after all it is also Black produced. Likewise it is my right to defend original African religion, emphasize its value and notable lack of sexual discrimination compared to others Black cultures..Few Rastafarians honor feminine and Nature archetypes of our indigenous people. They are fine with me. It is the intolerant Rastafarians that seems to want to monopolize the African spiritual thought in Judeo-Christian themes and texts that bother me. So, my job on this Earth is to stop them to free our people of latent western bondage.


Bantu Kelani.
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We should first show solidarity with each other. We are Africans. We are black. Our first priority is ourselves.
gman
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AfricaSpeaks


« Reply #33 on: April 03, 2004, 07:43:28 AM »

Well, is nah irrelevant to WE... is we culture. That is how I learned/grew in Rastafari, not as no patriarchal male-dominated thing, in fact many of the teachings I've got were from me auntie and from an elder sistren who plenty of males look up to. That is what Rastafari IS for me, Alpha/Omega, male/female balance. As far as my circle, it was never ONLY the Bible we reason about, Kemetic teachings were discussed as well (one or two people pretty much leff the Bible alone and concentrated pon that). Is not many Rastas in GT I've been in contact with who dismissed African ancestral practices... even when some might condemn obeah for eg. as practised in Guyana (because they say it's used for wickedness) they would acknowledge that originally in Africa it was used for good. I know plenty Rastas who say they would love to learn more about traditional African "religions", whether Yoruba, Congo, etc... they may not have been initiated in such but that is cos of lack of opportunity not lack of wanting to do so. Personally I feel I may be initiated in such when the Iniverse brings me to the right place at the right time (might be here in Brazil). I would see no contradiction at all between that and identifying as Rastafari. (Except I would not sacrifice animals). As for Judeo-Christian, those roots are there yes but many of we also reach beyond them for deeper roots. Now you might hear one of me bredren when he prays saying "in Jesus name" interchangably with "Rastafari" (his mum prayed in Jesus name and that is who he learn to pray from)... but when you ask him who is this "Jesus" he woulda say "me brudda", not his lord and master or nothing, just his brother who achieved enlightment as we all can do.
There are also Amerindian Rastas and they carry over many of their original traditions, as do Amerindian "Christians".
Now with that said, yes of course there are also plenty of patriarchal, Bible-bashing fundamentalist Rastas in Guyana, but I would not say they are the vast majority. And to judge from my interactions not just in GT but in England, America and now Brazil, I say there are also plenty of Rastas worldwide who acknowledge the femine principle and are open to learning about the traditions of their immediate ancestors, and they are not the vast minority.
BUT your point is taken. Anti-woman, anti-African sentiments should be countered at every step. respect.
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