Comment by Forrest Curo on 9th mo. 17, 2010 at 12:14pm

Amen. Dreadlocks don't suit my hair, and pot sometimes gave me the screaming horrors, not always communion-- but I like the music and I've never met a Rasta who didn't seem to be testifying for peace right through his big stoned loving eyes. But Sellasie may have been the victim of projected adoration; at least his dietyhood seems to have been news to him when he visited the island. Must have really given the guy thought...

Comment by Paula Roberts on 9th mo. 17, 2010 at 1:26pm

Not at all surprised that others have made the same connection! http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2010/07/rastafarians-an...

Comment by Forrest Curo on 9th mo. 17, 2010 at 2:20pm

That's a nice link all right:

"If there's a model for the Rastafari movement's future, it may be the Quakers--a comparison first made in the classic 1966 paper The Rastafarian Brethren of Jamaica:

" The early Quakers were not looked at with more misgivings by a society which saw them as coming "from the very rabble and dregs of the people," as individuals who differentiated themselves from more sober citizens by their odd appearance, the peculiar nature of their devotions, and their habit of quaking and trembling when filled with the "spirit." Seventeenth-century Quakers, like present-day Rastafarians, did not modify their beliefs when confronted by a hostile society, often used highly abusive language, and employed similar martial metaphors of pitching tents, drawing swords, and making ready for battle against the enemy. Rastamen would have understood George Fox's concern in walking around Licthtfield shouting at the top of his voice, "Woe to the bloody city!" "

Comment by Paula Roberts on 9th mo. 17, 2010 at 5:19pm

Indeed, and the prejudice still exists for Rastas. My dad is none too pleased with my hair, having himself been raised as a good British West Indian. The irony struck me today that if we'd embraced at least some of the Rastafarian wisdom, for example regarding Ital food, we would not be in the fix we are in (a demographic that is obese and at high risk for hypertension, heart disease, and obesity).

Comment by Isabel Penraeth on 9th mo. 17, 2010 at 6:02pm

LOL My husband and I together constitute a sort of hyphenated Quakerism, he of the dreadlocks and me of the plain. (He isn't a Rastafarian or a Quaker, but has quite long dreadlocks.) We've had and American teenage street urchin (I really don't know what else to call her) kiss our hands and tell us we were the most unique couple she's ever seen and got applauded upon entering a restaurant by a large family gathering for the same reason. People see us as a sort of opposites-attract sort of thing, but to be honest we are not actually opposite in anything except appearance.

Comment by Paula Roberts on 9th mo. 17, 2010 at 6:19pm

Ha! I forgot that thee's husband wears locks, Isabel. This made me smile. Every now and again the Universe trout slaps me with a DUH. I can only smile and think, "How did I not notice this before?". Thee would make an excellent Rastafarian woman BTW.

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