In ending our unit on the Rastafari, one question looms large in my mind; what is the legacy of the Rasta? After much thought, I feel like the answer is multifaceted. Of course the Rastas have left us with their symbols and music. Yet, beyond the reggae and dreadlock exterior of Rasta there lies the real legacy of the Rasta. That legacy is their legacy hope given to the poor and oppressed peoples of the world.
As Edmonds outlines in his book on Rastafari, the whole Rasta movement stemmed from a broken colonial system in Jamaica. The former slaves of the nation lived in destitute conditions, unable to break free from the chains of economic and social oppression. In this environment the Rasta came to exist as a force in opposition to the British system or Babylon to the Rasta. This opposition bred music and protest from the Rasta.
It is this spirit of protest that still resonates with the people of the world. Oppression and rebellion is ubiquitous around the globe, and for this reason the symbols of the Rasta are just as ubiquitous. Whether its the teenage American pot smoking rebel, or the downtrodden peoples of Africa, the Rasta philosophy provides an identity and hope. For this the Rasta must be admired, for where would the world be without "One Love" or Bob Marley's redemption songs?
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Rasta Community
Ennis Barrinton Edmonds did his homework when he wrote the book Rastafari because the rasta community portrayed in the youtube video is exactly as he described the rasta to be. All the elements were there; the red, gold, and green colors, the dreads, the belief in repatriation, the use of the term ini, the belief in natural living, and the strong belief in the battle between good and evil. This being said, another element of Edmonds analyses about rasta holds true, and that's that rastas area heterogeneous group.
This group of Rasta woke up at 3am in order to start prayer, an act which was done three times a day. Nowhere, at least in this video, were there signs of "reasoning" sessions and smoking of the ganja. Instead of letting there dreads hang loose and free, these rasta kept them up in turbans.
As Edmonds points out, a trademark of the rasta is that there is no centrally unifying church, and as such it makes sense that this group of rasta from the video would have slightly different rituals than the average rasta. This being said, Edmonds book so far has produced an excellent and precise picture of the Rastafari system of beliefs.
This group of Rasta woke up at 3am in order to start prayer, an act which was done three times a day. Nowhere, at least in this video, were there signs of "reasoning" sessions and smoking of the ganja. Instead of letting there dreads hang loose and free, these rasta kept them up in turbans.
As Edmonds points out, a trademark of the rasta is that there is no centrally unifying church, and as such it makes sense that this group of rasta from the video would have slightly different rituals than the average rasta. This being said, Edmonds book so far has produced an excellent and precise picture of the Rastafari system of beliefs.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Rasta Culture
The first chapter of the book Rastafari outlines Max Weber's theories of charisma and routinization in societies. Weber contends that a charismatic leader breaks the normal mould of a citizen and thus after a revolution the culture accepts the the leaders new ideas through a process of routinization. Edmond's in his Rastafari book takes a look at how this process worked of the Rastafari religion.
What interests me is that the process of routinization worked so well for the Rastafari culture that it has moved well beyond Jamaica and into mainstream secular culture in the United States. I don't just mean this in the sense that most people know about the Rastafari, but in the sense that Rastafari culture sells. Rasta colors, clothes, and music are all a huge commercial success.
To me this seems odd, I mean, how many non-Christians do you see that are wearing crosses or jesus shirts? I'd have to think not many. This commercial success brings many questions to mind that me, as a non-rastafari, can not answer. How do rastafari feel about this commercialization? Do they feel like some elements of their culture are being stolen? Do they like Bob Marley being the figure head of their religion instead of the man Rastafari? Its my hope that in reading further, some of these questions can be answered.
What interests me is that the process of routinization worked so well for the Rastafari culture that it has moved well beyond Jamaica and into mainstream secular culture in the United States. I don't just mean this in the sense that most people know about the Rastafari, but in the sense that Rastafari culture sells. Rasta colors, clothes, and music are all a huge commercial success.
To me this seems odd, I mean, how many non-Christians do you see that are wearing crosses or jesus shirts? I'd have to think not many. This commercial success brings many questions to mind that me, as a non-rastafari, can not answer. How do rastafari feel about this commercialization? Do they feel like some elements of their culture are being stolen? Do they like Bob Marley being the figure head of their religion instead of the man Rastafari? Its my hope that in reading further, some of these questions can be answered.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Queen Sheba
The story we read from the Keba Negast provides an interesting view of the ancient world. If you were to only read the story, and have no prior knowledge of scripture, you would think that Ethiopia was the most important nation in the ancient world. this prestige is set up by a couple of factors in the Keba Negast, the constant mention of riches and the exclusion of all other nations from the story except Ethiopia and Israel.
The story begins by explaining that the world is divided up into two halves, the northern half belongs to the emperor of Rom and the southern half that includes the southern part of Jerusalem is owned by the Ethiopian emperor. no other nations are mentioned in this sequence, thus Ethiopia stands out as one of the two most important nations on earth at this time.
The second feature of the story that denotes the status of Ethiopia is the constant mention of Ethiopia's riches. the author makes large lists about how many camels and merchants and other things the queen of sheba owns. This would seem to point out that God favors Ethiopia and thus the nations is abounding with riches.
together these facts point to the Ethno-centricity of the Ethiopian text, and provide ample reason for followers of the Ethiopian church to believe that they are some of God's chosen people on earth.
The story begins by explaining that the world is divided up into two halves, the northern half belongs to the emperor of Rom and the southern half that includes the southern part of Jerusalem is owned by the Ethiopian emperor. no other nations are mentioned in this sequence, thus Ethiopia stands out as one of the two most important nations on earth at this time.
The second feature of the story that denotes the status of Ethiopia is the constant mention of Ethiopia's riches. the author makes large lists about how many camels and merchants and other things the queen of sheba owns. This would seem to point out that God favors Ethiopia and thus the nations is abounding with riches.
together these facts point to the Ethno-centricity of the Ethiopian text, and provide ample reason for followers of the Ethiopian church to believe that they are some of God's chosen people on earth.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
System of Symbols
This image from Flickr.com struck me as a unique example of the system of symbols that are constructed by religious traditions.
Obviously this photo is not a pic from a religious ceremony, yet it is titled "Saturday Religion". This title and the highlighted yellow cricket wickets are testimony to the power of religious symbols. In the game of cricket there are three wickets that the bowler must knock down in order to bring his team up to bat...in the christian religion the number three has great significance. The number three represents the father, the son, and the holy spirit.
At first glance the fact that there are three cricket wickets seems like a coincidence, but the title reminds us of the connection. Not only is cricket the religion for these boys in that they play it "religiously", but the number three as a symbol has powerful religious meaning that spills into secular culture.
This photo may not have the plethora of symbols that Bridget's has on her blog at http://briheiking.blogspot.com/, but I feel like the photo and the title speak volumes about the power of religious symbols.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Religion's Course
In looking at the Psalms in depth we were given a unique view into a pillar scripture that was about to undertake a major overhaul in terms of meaning. At the time the psalms were written the word "king" still had a literal meaning. When Christianity came along the word "king" in the psalms was taken to mean Jesus. This dilemma of meaning does not go unnoticed by Saint Augustine. In his third book of "On Christian Teaching" Augustine address the question of literal versus figurative in the scripture.
Augustine specifically addresses this issue on page 94 when he talks about spiritual Israel vs. fleshy Israel. Augustine's man point is that he prophet whoa wrote the text of the old testament was knowingly talking about the present times and the future. When he said that "I will bring you into your own land" the prophet meant that not only will the Israelites be taken to the promise land, but that all God's followers will be taken to the "promise land".
Whats important and interesting about this point in Augustine, is that it marks the evolution of a religion. Augustine is not only trying to work out the scripture for himself, but establish a frame for the entire Christian religion to understand the bible. Without this frame their wouldn't be any congruity to the christian religion. The text of the old and new testaments would have no connect. Instead the religion as a whole is able to connect the to testaments and move forth into the future.
Augustine specifically addresses this issue on page 94 when he talks about spiritual Israel vs. fleshy Israel. Augustine's man point is that he prophet whoa wrote the text of the old testament was knowingly talking about the present times and the future. When he said that "I will bring you into your own land" the prophet meant that not only will the Israelites be taken to the promise land, but that all God's followers will be taken to the "promise land".
Whats important and interesting about this point in Augustine, is that it marks the evolution of a religion. Augustine is not only trying to work out the scripture for himself, but establish a frame for the entire Christian religion to understand the bible. Without this frame their wouldn't be any congruity to the christian religion. The text of the old and new testaments would have no connect. Instead the religion as a whole is able to connect the to testaments and move forth into the future.
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