Chant down Babylon: Freedom of Religion and the Rastafarian Challenge to Majoritarianism

Prohibition, Religious Freedom, and Human Rights: Regulating Traditional Drug Use

“…This chapter will primarily focus on five legal jurisdictions which have considered this issue in varying degrees, as these legal judgments have been reported on the most extensively (see Taylor 1984Taylor , 1988Frank 1990;Loveland 2001;O'Brien 2001;O'Brien andCarter 2002-2003;Edge 2006;Du Plessis 2009;Gibson 2010 (2006) observed regarding the USA, England, and South Africa: All five of the above jurisdictions are pluralist democracies, all are concerned with maintaining drug prohibition, all seek to uphold and respect religious rights, and all five possess religious minorities who use prohibited drugs as a sacrament. Nevertheless, much of the relevant judicial discourse is believed to present a reductionist version of Rastafarianism, 1 in which its beliefs and values are undermined and are reflective of existing judicial preconceptions (O'Brien andCarter 2002-2003).…”

“…Garvey is widely regarded as the first prophet of the movement and was the founder of the United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) (Taylor 1984). As perhaps expected, his teachings could be described as Afro-centric, as he abhorred slavery, ardently rejected the Western world, was a firm advocate of Black pride, and believed that repatriation to Ethiopia was the route to salvation (O'Brien andCarter 2002-2003).…”

“…It arose in what was a colonial and predominately Christian country where approximately 98 % of the population were Black descendants of slaves (Chevannes 1994). Thus, in response to a deeply felt displacement by the African Diaspora and to escape the political and cultural legacy of the colonial mindset, Rastafarianism, as it is presently practiced, materialized (O'Brien andCarter 2002-2003). Rastafarianism is a messianic movement with its tenets maintaining that Haile Selassie, the late emperor of Ethiopia, is another incarnation of the Judeo-Christian God known by them as Jah (Taylor 1984).…”

“…The belief in repatriation and the deification of Selassie are possibly the only rigidly defined creeds that the Rastafari have (O'Brien andCarter 2002-2003). It is believed that Garvey prophesized the coming of the Black messiah; his teachings encouraged others to look for his coming and to view God through their own spectacles: "the spectacles of Ethiopia," as opposed to the "White spectacles" engendered through colonialism (Garvey 1967, p. 34).…”

“…Instead, it was the Rastafari themselves who were able to transform their own social universe, supported by Garvey's initial teachings inviting Rastafari to form their own conceptions of reality (Cashmore 1979). Rastafari now have many differing perspectives on Selassie, on Jesus, and on many of the other various elements that together comprise their religion (O'Brien andCarter 2002-2003). as cited in Cashmore 1979, p. 123) acutely surmised, "Rasta is not a version of reality as you say; Ras Tafari is the reality."…”