Bob M. - rastafari

[ratm545]

what's the deal with rastafari? someone with a good bit of knowledge told me that down in Jamaica HE is their relgion, and he is Rastafari, Jah, etc. i always thought he believed in God and was a very rightous man. anyone know anything about this?

[ComradeJunichi]

Marley isn't the religion. And ...the Ethiopian leader...I forgot his name, is a key part of the religion. That's all I know. Oh, and they gotzta ganja!

[canikickit]

Haile Selassie.


with a good bit of knowledge

What dictionary did you use to define the words, "good", "bit" and "knowledge"? Tell me so I'll never buy it.

Of course, it could be possible that this "one" is not very good at defining his terms, because I suppose you could say that every man is Jah to rastas.

Ah, I wrote more about this in the "Redemption Song" thread.

[ratm545]

well, he's been down there a few times and talked to the Jamaican people. that is what they told him. thought that qualified for "a good bit of knowledge" on the issue. i guess he's inferior to you

(Edited by ratm545 at 5:24 am on Dec. 10, 2002)

[canikickit]

Inferiority is in the eye of the beholder. What exactly did he say? That Bob was viewed as God?

[ratm545]

exactly that, and that Bob viewed himself as their god

[canikickit]

That's fucking outrageous! It's simply not true. Any Bob biography I've ever read has mentioned his strong belief in Jah. He converted to Ethiopian Orthodox christianity not long before he died. Bob was a very humble man, all that was in his bedroom was a bed, a chair, a guitar and a picture of Haile Selassie.

[Dhul Fiqar]

I have studied Rastafarianism for years now and hope to do a fully fledged research project on them once I get my degree. No resource I have ever encountered has said anything even similar to this.

Perhaps the misunderstanding came from the fact that he bore Selassie's golden lion ring and took the name Berhane Selassie (Light of the Trinity in English) because he was considered a prophet by some Rastafarians.
But claiming he was god would have been considered heresy, and I have never heard that he did anything of the sort. Like canikickit said, he was a very humble man in all respects and afforded himself few luxuries. When he finally bought a car it was a BMW and he jokingly argued that he had to get it because it was the initials of "Bob Marley and the Wailers". He never locked it and never had to btw, not even in the rough parts of Kingston.

So, basically, either your friend was wrongly informed or totally misunderstood something.

--- G.

[ratm545]

thank you :) i'll make sure to tell him all about it.