What is Rasta?

What is Rasta?
Are their beliefs true?

Q. What is Rasta? Are their beliefs true or are they a false religion? Was King Haile Selassie the highest honored Emperor on Earth and was he god in the flesh?

(Submitted by: Trifari)

A. I lay no claim to being an expert on Rasta or Ras Tafari Makonnen (who was crowned as "King of Kings and Lord of Lords" in Ethiopia in 1930 using the name Haile Selassie I), nor of Marcus Garvey, the Jamaican to whom is given credit for the formation of the religion commonly called Rasta. The use of marijuana as a "sacrament" prescribed by Rasta as an aid to meditation is not founded on Biblical principles, nor is the wearing of "dreadlocks" as a prescribed hair style. Some of the Rastafarian beliefs are undoubtedly true, as no religion can be founded entirely on untruth. However the black separatism and the hatred of whites engendered by this movement certainly seem antithetical to the teaching of Jesus. The belief in the superiority of the black race should be viewed with skepticism in the same manner as white supremacy or any other judgment made of people because of their ethnic origin. We are all equal in God's eyes:

" There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. " ( Galatians 3:28-29)

Your last question asked whether King Haile Selassie was God in the flesh. Marcus Garvey, the founder of Rasta, claimed that Ras Tafari Makonnen (Haile Selassie) was essentially God in the flesh, the second coming of Jesus, the Messiah, and Selassie was crowned in 1930 as "King of Kings and Lord of Lords" and was worshiped as a god. Furthermore, quoting from a Rastafarian web site:

"To greater represent the truth, Rasta rejects the Bible used by most Christians, opting instead for a "black man's Bible" known as the Holy Piby."

If one believes the Bible is the word of God, and I do, then one must reject Rasta as just another false religion, which - while having a lot of good points and teaching some truth - will lead a person away from the Bible and the teaching of Jesus and, therefore, away from salvation. The answer to your last question, in my humble opinion, is "no".

Answer Given By: Clay Willis