Selassie is the chapel...or is it JC?

[vlad]

Since this site is about "roots" reggae which is very much about the related Selassie beliefs, I thought these words from Judy Mowat could be of interest:

"When Bob was on his dying bed, his wife Rita called me on the phone and said to me that Bob was in such excruciating pain and he stretched out his hand and said, 'Jesus take me.' I was wondering to myself, 'Why is it that Bob said "Jesus" and not "Selassie"?' But I never said it to anyone. Then I met a friend of mine and he said his sister, who is a Christian, was a nurse at the hospital where Bob was before he passed on, and she led him to the Lord Jesus Christ. So when Rita saw him saying 'Jesus take me', he had already received the Lord Jesus Christ in his life."

Judy said that sharing that, telling the truth about Marley's conversion isn't popular in Jamaica. "People need to know, because they would be drawn also to Jesus Christ. But nobody wants to promote that and in Jamaica, I said it on a popular television programme and a Rasta man met me and asked me why did I have to say that? I said, 'Because it's the truth!' But he never wanted me to reveal that and I think that anybody doesn't want that to be revealed, because so many people would be drawn to the Gospel."

[unorthodoxconqueror]

interesting never knew about this. just found this on the web http://beginningandend.com/bob-marley-r ... us-christ/

[star]

To be honest I don't think god would care what someone thinks his image looks like or what form he comes in. In my opinion all that should matter is what kind of a person you are. I don't care if your gay, atheist, catholic, or whatever. As long as you've done good you deserve the same treatment as anyone else. I feel like all specific faiths do is divide people. Every belief can influence someone in a good way, but also in a bad way as well. The is no perfect religion, and there never will be. It comes down to your actions not beliefs.

[j j]

Interesting reading thanks vlad & unorthodox....

j j

[Survival]

"The incident that probaly caused the major divide between many in the Rastafarian community and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church was the baptism of Bob Marley into the church before he died. He was baptized by the Head of the church Archbishop Abuna Yesehaq. What was most upsetting to the Rastafarian community was when this became public knowlegde and the statements (see media interviews) made by the church in regards to an "Orthodox conversion" by Bob Marley. His close friend, Tommy Cowan, has also has stated that Bob Marley converted to Christianity before he died."

Read more:
http://www.jamaicans.com/culture/rasta/ ... urch.shtml

[KevD]

I've posted this information quite a few times on one or two well known Bob Marley fan pages on Facebook, it usually gets deleted within the space of an hour, shame. Judy Mowatt, a Christian herself, also holds that Bob converted to Christ before his death.

[vlad]

The reason I posted this under this forum and not "off topic" is because a vast majority of information discussed & archived here revolves around the belief of "rastafari" as a divine reincarnation.

My belief is Bob, when facing death at 36, thought that the Gods may have gotten upset at him elevating - singing praises - a dictator to Godly status.

This doesn't take anything away from the incredible talent/beauty behind Bob's music and jamaican music connected to this belief in general.

Believing is source of tremendous creativity.

[Siegi]

The facts are interesting I didnt know.

On the other hand for an overall religion disccussion it isnt important like Star is saying.

[Norbert]

The overall question here is: Is Rastafari a religion or a way of life?
In fact, when you check the history and the way Rastafari evolved you will see that it was mostly influenced by the Black Power movement and the idea of liberating the african slaves and later on the children of them. Religion, mostly christianity and some subbranches, if you want to say so, didn't play such an important role. Religion was used in the favor of the movement. Of course all of the founding members were somehow religious and many took references out of the bible to justify the righteousness of there doings, so protesting against "the system". I would say that the religious idea of Rastafari came much after the first steps of other movements to safeguard the black power movement before the government. You can check that specially with the trials of Hinds and Howell in 1934, where Howell is saying that his speeches where religious motivated and the court said it was political (see in Price 2009: 60 and 68). If we agree on terms that Rastafari is a way of life, there is the possibility of being both, a Rastafari, as a way of life, and a christian in a religious way in the strict sense. The first doesn't exclude the second. If we say Rastafari is a religion then we just have to check the 12 Tribes of Israel where Jesus Christ is playing a central role in the belief system. All in all if Bob said that he believed in Jesus Christ, that doesn't mean he converted to christianity in the first place and denied Rastafari in any way. MAybe he was christian after all and promoted the idea of the black liberation movement. But in the end all this is speculation, what he was before he died and what he wasn't, and important for me is the music and not the religion of the musician, or?

After i gave you the link to the book of price here are all the information to get to this very interesting book, i can recommend that one:
Price, Charles (2009): Becoming Rasta. Origins of Rastafari Identity in Jamaica, New York and London: New York University Press

Norbert