Rastafarianism: Religion Or Crazy Fad?

By Kamau Mutunga ("The Nation," August 19, 2005)

Extracted from http://wwrn.org/articles/18360/?&section=rastafarians

Nairobi, Kenya - The movement began among oppressed Jamaicans spurred by interpretations of biblical prophecy and the idealisation of Africa in the early 1930s. "No matter where we go, we are the lions in this kingdom..."

The kingdom was Splash Waterworld, Carnivore grounds, a fortnight ago where reggae fans were chanting to Burning Spear's Jah Kingdom. There they were, resplendent in the red, gold and green T-shirts bearing the images of Bob Marley, Marcus Garvey and Ethiopia's Emperor Haile Selassie, for the first Annual East African Reggae festival.

Their ragged, crowned dreadlocks framed the portrait of a fraternity that, they say, has for years been misunderstood and held in suspicion by the wider society.

And so here we were, in search of the Rasta faithful who would help demystify the 75-year old Rastafarian movement.

"Most Kenyans think Rastafarians are about dreadlocks, reggae music and ghetto life. But it's a natural progression towards self realisation, besides caring for humanity," says Don Rawzi, a former Catholic and a Rastafarian for 15 years.

Like other Rastas, he believes in the "religious" value of marijuana, reincarnation and in Emperor Haile Selassie as a prophet and only African linkage to Jesus Christ.

He explains: "Haile Selassie was God's plan to free Africans, just like Moses did with the Israelites. Selassie set forth the way for the independence of African rights through the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) and setting aside land in a place called Shashamane, Ethiopia for the settlement of displaced Africans. His lineage also goes all the way to King Solomon."

Smoking marijuana - known variably as bangi, ngwai, boza, bomu, mbaga, ganja, holy herb... St John's bread - is illegal and can land you in a Kenyan jail for 10 years.

However, to some Rastas, it is a spiritual act. Really?

Says Rawzi: "It is a biblically sanctioned communion, though non Rastas have abused it. King Solomon said that wine is good for the heart and chalice (read Marijuana) is good for the soul. Remember Solomon was the wisest man?"

Some faiths find it bizarre, but "Rastafarianism is not a religion, as Ras Mato (Martin Simbaoni) puts it: "It is a consciousness of being and marijuana helps in prayer and meditation and has a rightful place in creation and no laws should hold captive a plant that can't defend it self. Jailing a faithful for partaking a communion, is evil triumph."

Rastas believe their bodies are temples of God, and thus don't worship in physical buildings. To them, the chosen few will live forever in their current bodies; which was why reggae maestro Bob Marley, never wrote a will, despite suffering from stages of advanced cancer.

"Churches are a form of commercialising spirituality and chaining the spirit, besides propagating class inequality through adoration of the West. We believe Haile Selassie is the closest African relative to Jesus as Christ said; He will come not as Himself in blood, but other forms, read Selassie. Selassie also received divine protection, which was why Ethiopia was not colonised," explains Mato. Curiously though, Rastas seem to have no problems with the emperor's cruelty. He is known to have kept his lions' beef supply steady when Ethiopians were starving in the early 1970s.

But why the absence of Rastafarian missionaries? Willy Wailer, a Rastafarian for 37 years, says that theirs is a way of life and, "no one member is singled out to lead others to salvation, all Rastas are equal." Rawzi adds that those who lay the Rasta foundation never came to Africa and the Rastafarian doctrine only spread through the global popularity of reggae music.

Then there is the perennial negative image. "The basic message of Rastafarian is the dismantling of all oppressive institutions and the liberation of mankind. People don't understand that. Then there is our hair. 'Dread' means fear and dreadlocks have always instilled fear," says Wailer.

To Rastafarians, dreadlocks are a journey of the mind, soul and spirituality; achieved without a comb, which like the razor and scissors, are "Babylonian" (white) inventions.

"Dreads are the fullest expression of nature in man and a vow to fight for equal rights and class inequality," says Mato.

For justification they quote the book of Leviticus 21:15- "They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in the flesh."

In Rastafari: Roots and Ideologies, Barry Chevannes notes that the movement began among oppressed Jamaicans in the early 1930s who were spurred by interpretations of Biblical prophecy and the idealisation of Africa through socio-political aspirations from the teachings of Pan-Africanist Marcus Mosiah Garvey.

His most famous 1920s prophecy was, "Look to Africa, for there a king shall be crowned". And ten years later, Haile Selassie was crowned as Emperor, the 225th in an complete line of Ethiopian kings said to be descended from the biblical King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.

This prophesy is validated by some chapters in the book of Psalms and The Holy Piby (Rastafarian bible) that says, "when a black man is a king in Africa it will be the right time to migrate to "Zion." Zion is understood to be Ethiopia and some Rastas classify themselves as its citizens.

"Some chapters in the book of Psalms end with the word Sellae, which is Kiswahili equivalent of thelatha or three. Which is why we believe Selassie was part of the holy trinity as his name, Haile Selassie, means the power of the trinity," says Rawzi.

The name Rastafari comes from Ras (Amharic for prince) Tafari, Makonnen; Selassie's pre-coronation name whom Rastas believe is the black Messiah.

The movement spread globally, through immigration and interest generated by the ragged cadence of reggae music-most notably, that of Bob Marley. But funny enough, devote Rastas scorn at reggae as commercial music and a "sell-out to Babylon."

Eileen Barker in New religious movements: a practical introduction notes that Rastafarianism hasn't been recognised as a standard denomination, but like all religions, has its divisions called orders or mansions. There is the Nyambighi, The Twelve Tribes of Israel and the Bobo Ashanti mansions.

The Bobo Ashanti was founded by Prince Edward Emmanuel Charles VII in the 1950s. Its members, called "Bobos" or "Bobo dreads" wear turbans and robes and carry brooms to signify cleanliness. To them, blacks are the true Israelites.

The Twelve Tribes of Israel, founded by Dr Vernon Carrington, base their beliefs on the twelve astrological signs of the zodiac. They believe Haile Selassie is God incarnate who'll head a universal religious order during the day of judgment.

The over one million Rastafarians have two religious ceremonies: "A reasoning," writes Chevannes, is a simple gathering to smoke marijuana and discuss ethical, social and religious issues. The other is a Binghi or "Grounation." It is a holiday marked by dancing, singing, feasting and smoking weed. They take place during the Ethiopian Christmas on January 6, the anniversary of Selassie's visit to Jamaica on April 2, and his coronation on November 2; the birthdays of Bob Marley on February 6, Selassie's on July 23 and Garvey's on August 17.

Rastas draw extensively from the Bible, though they don't stick to what may be termed as mainstream interpretation. For this they have been criticised for misinterpreting the Bible.

In 1996, Rastafari was officially recognised as a movement by the United Nations.

Rastafarian inmates no longer isolated over hair

By Dena Potter (AP, November 17, 2010)

Extracted from http://wwrn.org/articles/34514/?&section=rastafarians

Richmond, USA - Many Rastafarians and other inmates in Virginia who have spent years in isolation for refusing to cut their hair were moved to a prison where they can live together, the state Corrections Department said Wednesday.

The Associated Press reported in June that 48 inmates were being held in segregation for ignoring the state's grooming policy, which bans beards and calls for hair to be kept above the shirt collar.

Department of Corrections spokesman Larry Traylor told AP that 31 inmates were transferred to Keen Mountain Correctional Center in southwestern Virginia late last week. The change was made to "better manage and utilize critical bed space" because the offenders will be held two to a cell instead of just one, Traylor said.

"While there remains a need for consequences when offenders choose not to adhere to VADOC policy, it was determined that offenders whose only offense is failure to comply with the grooming policy should be housed and managed separately from the general population but did not require housing in segregation," Traylor said.

Inmates will not have all the privileges of the prison's general population, but they are allowed to move inside their unit, more personal property, and educational and other programs.

Traylor said in June the policy was needed to prevent inmates from hiding weapons and drugs in their long hair or beards, and also to keep them from quickly changing their appearance if they escape. At least 10 Rastafarian inmates, who view growing their hair unbridled, typically in dreadlocks as a tenet of their religion, have been in isolation since the policy was enacted in 1999.

Traylor said about 300 inmates identified themselves as Rastafarians, and only 13 are out of compliance with the grooming standards. Inmates will continue to have their heads shaved when they enter prison, Traylor said.

"It should not have taken eleven years, but DOC is finally realizing that there was never any need to punish these prisoners because of their religious beliefs," said Kent Willis, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia.

The Virginia ACLU represented a group of Rastafarian and Muslim inmates who unsuccessfully challenged the policy in 2003.

Virginia is among only about a dozen states, mostly in the South, that limit the length of inmates' hair and beards, according to the American Correctional Chaplains Association. A handful of those allow accommodations for those whose religious beliefs prohibit cutting their hair. There is no hair policy for federal prisoners.

"Being isolated in such a fashion for years, even while inside prison, is beyond the pale of a civilized society," said Evans Hopkins, a former prisoner, award-winning writer and close friend to Rastafarian inmate Ivan Sparks, who died last year while in segregation. "I hope the DOC will continue to try to work these men back into the general population, and prepare them for release."

Others who have fought against the policy for years were not as pleased.

"I'm going to remain hopefully optimistic that this may prove to be better, but I don't quite know yet," said Janet Taylor, whose Rastafarian name is "Queen Nzinga."

Taylor said some inmates who have spent 11 years in segregation may have problems adjusting to having a cellmate, and the time in isolation may have taken a mental toll on the inmates.

Rastafarianism grows in Jamaica after long disdain

By David McFadden (AP, November 28, 2012)

Extracted from http://wwrn.org/articles/38616/

Bull Bay, Jamaica — The robed Rastafarian priest looked out over the turquoise sea off Jamaica's southeast coast and fervently described his belief that deliverance is at hand.

Around him at the sprawling Bobo Ashanti commune on an isolated hilltop, a few women and about 200 dreadlocked men with flowing robes and tightly wrapped turbans prayed, fasted, and fashioned handmade brooms — smoking marijuana only as a ceremonial ritual.

"Rasta church is rising," declared Priest Morant, who wore a vestment stitched with the words "The Black Christ." ''There's nothing that can turn it back."

The Rastafarian faith is indeed rising in Jamaica, where new census figures show a roughly 20 percent increase in the number of adherents over a decade, to more than 29,000. While still a tiny sliver of the mostly Christian country's 2.7 million people, Jalani Niaah, an expert in the Rastafari movement, says the number is more like 8 to 10 percent of the population, since many Rastas disdain nearly all government initiatives and not all would have spoken to census takers.

"Its contemporary appeal is particularly fascinating to young men, especially in the absence of alternative sources for their development," said Niaah, a lecturer at the University of the West Indies.

Founded 80 years ago by descendants of African slaves, the Rasta movement's growing appeal is attributable to its rejection of Western materialism, the scarcity of opportunities for young men in Jamaica and an increasing acceptance of it.

For the black nationalist Bobo Ashanti commune, the Rastafarian faith is a transforming way of life, where Rastas strive to live a frugal existence uncomplicated by binding relationships to "Babylon" — the unflattering term for the Western world. They share a deep alienation from modern life and Jamaica is perceived as a temporary harbor until prophecy is fulfilled and they journey to the promised land of Africa on big ships.

Life is highly regimented at the isolated retreat, cut off from most of the comforts of modern society. But it has a strong appeal for some, among them 27-year-old Adrian Dunkley, who joined the strict sect two months ago after years of questioning his Christian upbringing and struggling to find work as an upholsterer.

"This place is helping me a whole heap. I'm learning every day, and things are starting to make sense," the new recruit known as Prince Adrian said in the shade of one of dozens of scrap-board buildings painted in the bright Rastafarian colors of red, green and gold.

Other Rastafari adherents follow a more secular lifestyle, marked by a passion for social justice, the natural world, reggae music and the ritualistic use of pot to bring them closer to the divine.

A melding of Old Testament teachings and Pan-Africanism, Rastafarianism emerged in colonial-era Jamaica in the 1930s out of anger over the oppression of blacks. Its message was spread by the reggae songs created by musical icons Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Burning Spear and others in the 1970s, and the movement has attracted a following among reggae-loving Americans, Europeans and Asians. Academics believe at least 1 million people practice it worldwide.

In the United States, the population of Rastafarians appears to be steadily growing due in part to jailhouse conversions, said Charles Price, associate professor of anthropology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the author of "Becoming Rasta: Origins of Rastafari Identity in Jamaica."

"I regularly get letters from inmates seeking information," Price said. "I also get regular invitations to talk to prisoners at local North Carolina juvenile facilities, often from chaplains trying to figure out what to do."

Besides the well-known ritual use of marijuana, Rastas endeavor to reject materialist values and practice a strict oneness with nature, eating only unprocessed foods and leaving their hair to grow, uncombed, into dreadlocks.

Most of its many sects worship the late Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie, even though he was widely considered a despot in his native land and paid little heed to his adulation by faraway Caribbean people whose ancestry tended to be West African and not Ethiopian.

The worship of Selassie is rooted in Jamaican black nationalist leader Marcus Garvey's 1920s prediction that a "black king shall be crowned" in Africa, ushering in a "day of deliverance." When an Ethiopian prince named Ras Tafari, who took the name Haile Selassie I, became emperor in 1930, the descendants of slaves in Jamaica took it as proof that Garvey's prophecy was being fulfilled. When Selassie came to Jamaica in 1966, he was mobbed by cheering crowds, and many Rastafarians insisted miracles and other mystical happenings occurred during his visit.

Adherents were long treated as second-class citizens in Jamaica and other Caribbean islands, looked down on for their dreadlocks and use of marijuana. But discrimination never stopped businessmen from cashing in on the faith, whose red, green and gold clothing and accessories earn millions in sales of T-shirts, crocheted caps and other items. Marley's music and the faith's pot-laced mysticism has also been used to promote Jamaica as a tourist destination

Rastafarian and veteran reggae luminary Tony Rebel said discrimination against Rastas has faded considerably in recent years in Jamaica.

"That discriminatory vibe has relaxed. But even so, we still we don't see a person with locks working in a bank these days, we don't see a person with locks in the police force as we would see in America or other places," Rebel said.

The first dreadlocked politician in Jamaica's Parliament was elected only last year.

Many Rastas advocate reparations for slavery and a return to Africa. The latter is a particularly fervent desire among those at Bobo Ashanti, who differ from other Rasta sects in the belief that their founder, King Emmanuel Charles Edwards, was the black incarnation of Jesus Christ.

Some Jamaicans dismiss the faith as bizarre.

"There is a whole part of the society that would still consider Rastafari to be delusional, and this is largely hinged on the claims made about Emperor Haile Selassie and also the consumption of (marijuana) and the idea of repatriation," Niaah said.

But for adherents like Prince Xavier, a 27-year-old Frenchman who moved to the Bobo Ashanti commune a couple of years after being introduced to Rastafarians in his native Paris, it's providing answers and a positive self-identity.

"I'm learning a lot about Rastafari and about our heritage," said the bearded Frenchman, clad in a red turban and black robe. "It is a matter of life and death."

Rastafarian Temple Raided For Alleged Medical Marijuana Sales Sues City, States Pot Use Part Of Its Religious Freedom

By Dennis Romero ("LA Weekly," July 28, 2010)

Extracted from http://wwrn.org/articles/33945/?&section=rastafarians

Los Angeles, USA - ​Leaders of a Rastafarian temple/alleged pot shop in Hollywood sued the city this week following its crackdown on medical marijuana retailers: The suit claims that the temple leaders were wrongfully arrested in June and that the sect is not a dispensary but rather a gathering place where members use marijuana in the name of a, er, higher power: God and religion.

The City Attorney's office sent letters to most of the dispensaries in town warning them they'd have to close down under a stricter city ordinance. Apparently Liberty Bell Temple II was targeted as a pot shop and some of its leaders were subsequently arrested when the city determined it had not shut down as ordered.

R. Edward Forchion, Charquant Leyou, and the Liberty Bell Temple II itself filed suit in Superior Court alleging that the city has infringed on their right, without due process under the law, to practice their religion.

"Liberty Bell II operated as a Rastafarian temple where marijuana was used as a sacrament,'' the suit states.

The suit asserts that Rastafarians consider marijuana a sacrament. Plaintiffs asked for a court order to prevent the city from interfering in this higher calling.

No comment has come so far from the City Attorney's office, but it previously alleged the temple was doing business as a out-of-compliance pot shop called House of Kush. It was raided June 14, and six people were taken into custody.

If weed is a religious necessity for the Liberty Bell Temple II massive, so be it. Leaders and followers can always get a prescription. But selling it isn't part of this religious freedom, right?

Irie.

Inmates who refuse hair cuts sent to high security

By Dena Potter (AP, March 3, 2011)

Extracted from http://wwrn.org/articles/35157/?&section=rastafarians

RICHMOND, Va. -- Several Rastafarians and other inmates have been moved to a high-security prison as officials try to persuade them to cut their hair, which many refuse to do because it goes against their religious beliefs.

Many inmates had spent more than a decade in isolation for refusing to cut their hair and then were all first moved to the same prison in November. Their refusal violates the state's grooming policy for prisoners. Some of those recently moved are still working through a program meant to persuade them to cut their hair. Nine chose to go back into segregation, corrections department spokesman Larry Traylor said Thursday.

Corrections officials said the program would give the inmates more privileges and a chance to socialize. In letters to the AP, several inmates criticized it as little more than segregation by another name.

"That's all they have done with this arrangement, removed the word 'segregation' while in actuality we remain segregated and subjected to literally the same policy that seeks to strip us of our faith, our dignity and our will to resist tyrants acting as public servants," said Roberto Chavez, one of the inmates who chose to return to segregation rather than comply with the program.

Traylor said the move last week to Wallens Ridge State Prison, one of the state's highest security prisons in far southwest Virginia, was simply an issue of space. However, inmates who decide to cut their hair and are released back into the general population will face tighter security and fewer privileges there than they would have at their previous home, Keen Mountain Correctional Center. More than 30 inmates had moved to Keen Mountain in November.

He said the program to get inmates to cut their hair has been a success, adding that six inmates agreed to cut their hair and returned to the general population.

The program gives graduated privileges such as time outside cells, money to spend in the commissary and freedom during recreation time if the inmates take classes on anger management and behavioral modification.

Inmates who finish the program "graduate" to the general population, where there are more privileges.

Several inmates refused the program, which required them to double-bunk. They said they had developed odd behaviors to cope with years in isolation and did not want to spend 22 hours a day in such tight quarters.

Most of those who had been in segregation for more than a decade were Rastafarians, who believe that it is against God's will to cut their hair.

Chavez said the program was not educational but more akin to "psychological warfare."

"The whole purpose of us being sent here is to subject us to intensive psychology mumbo jumbo," Chavez said.

A group of Rastafarian and Muslim inmates unsuccessfully challenged the policy in federal court in 2003.

Virginia is among only about a dozen states that limit the length of inmates' hair and beards, according to the American Correctional Chaplains Association. A handful of those allow accommodations for those whose religious beliefs prohibit cutting their hair. There is no hair policy for federal prisoners.

The department says the grooming policy is needed to prevent inmates from hiding weapons and drugs in their long hair or beards, and also to keep them from quickly changing their appearance if they escape.

About 300 inmates identify as Rastafarians, but only about a dozen are out of compliance with the policy, department officials said. Inmates' heads are shaved when they enter prison.

"We're not doing it just because we can. It's been done because it raises some security issues and concerns," said Harold Clarke, who took over as director of the department in November.

Allen McRae, who changed his name to Ras-Solomon Tafari in prison, also chose to return to isolation. He said the program barred inmates from any educational or religious programming, holding a job, receiving personal property like television and some hygiene items, and face-to-face visits with loved ones.

That only comes if they cut their hair.

"The program is designed in such a way that we can never graduate the program unless we surrender our religious beliefs," he said.

Scientology numbers going backwards: Census

By Steve Cannane ("ABC News," June 30, 2012)


Extracted from http://wwrn.org/articles/37609/?&section=occult

Australia - Figures released to Lateline from the Australian Census show that in 2011, just 2,163 Australians called themselves Scientologists, a decrease of 13.7 per cent from the 2006 Census.

In 2009, Scientology spokesman Tommy Davis told ABC's Four Corners program there were "tens, if not hundreds of thousands" of Scientologists in Australia.

The Church of Scientology would not grant an interview to Lateline, but in a statement said: "The Census figures are not an accurate reflection of the growing number of people visiting our churches and actively participating in Scientology both in Australia and internationally."

Paul Schofield, who was a member of the Church for 29 years, before leaving in 2008, says Scientology has a history of fudging their figures.

"Scientology is totally obsessed with statistics. If your statistics are not going up you get punished, and they are probably the world’s most creative people with numbers when it comes to increases.

Jedis on the up

While Scientology is going backwards, other minor religions have registered increases.

The number of Pantheists went up by 35 per cent, while the Rastafarian movement increased by 30 per cent.

Australians who describe themselves as Jedis, now number over 65,000, over 30 times higher than Scientology's figures.

Wiccans, who dabble in witchcraft, have topped 8,000.

The release of the Census figures follows more bad news for the Church of Scientology.

Wendy Honnor, one of the most prominent Scientologists in Australia, has quit the church.

In an email to friends Ms Honnor wrote, "The only way out is out. I am free."

Ms Honnor is a previous winner of the International Association of Scientologists' Freedom Medal.

The Freedom Medal is considered the highest honour a Scientologist can achieve and has previously been awarded to Tom Cruise.

Wendy Honnor is thought to be the only winner of the Freedom Medal to quit and publicly distance herself from the church.

In her email Ms Honnor wrote: "I agree with all the points raised in the New Year 2012 email of Debbie Cook."

Debbie Cook is a former church official in the United States who was critical of the corporate culture of Scientology and the church's leader David Miscavige.

In a statement, the Church of Scientology said "Religion is a matter of personal choice and Ms Honnor has always made her own decisions in her life."

Rastafarians Struggle With Discrimination

By Stevenson Jacobs (AP, July 15, 2003)

Extracted from http://wwrn.org/articles/5335/?&section=rastafarians

Their dreadlocked image and marijuana-laced mysticism are used to promote Jamaica as a tranquil tourist destination yet Rastafarians say they're treated as second-class citizens at home.

The religion isn't officially recognized in Jamaica, which means marriages can't be legally performed and places of worship aren't tax exempt. Rastas also say their traditional appearance and ritual use of marijuana has kept them from getting decent jobs.

"They put a wire fence around us so that when we reach for opportunities we get scraped," said Pato Solo, a 33-year-old attending the International Rastafari Conference, which begins Wednesday and is drawing followers from the Caribbean, Europe and Africa.

Fueled by anger over the colonial oppression of blacks, descendants of African slaves started the religion in Jamaica during the 1930s.

Its message of peaceful coexistence, marijuana use and African repatriation was popularized in the 1970s through reggae artists such as Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. An estimated 700,000 people practice the faith worldwide but the government of Jamaica can't say with certainty how many of its 2.6 million people are Rastas.

"We can't walk free, we can't talk free ... We're still under bondage," said Radcliffe Boyd, 33, who claims he had his wrist broken by police three years ago after being caught with marijuana.

He paid a small fine, as do most Rastas arrested for marijuana use. Penalties range from fines of less than $2 to six months in jail.

Rastafarians say they're blamed for crime in Jamaica and looked down upon for their use of marijuana, which followers believe brings them closer to God. Some sects believe their god is deceased Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie.

Few Rastas are employed in the formal sector in Jamaica. Officials say they don't discriminate, but admit they would rather hire someone who is clean-cut and sober.

Lansford Haughton, 51, said he was refused work at a post office: "They said, 'you have to groom yourself,'" he said. "I told them, 'This is my faith.'" One of the religion's tenets is staying close to nature, which can mean not combing or cutting one's hair.

Police spokeswoman Ionie Ramsay-Nelson raised another question: "It's a safety issue. Sometimes we have to use firearms and if somebody takes a smoke they might just do whatever their mind tells them to and start shooting. It's a concern."

Rastas say using the drug doesn't affect their performance.

"Ganja makes me focus more, said Robert Gardner, 32, saying marijuana users are not "like crack addicts or alcoholics."

The treatment of Rastas isn't much better elsewhere in the Caribbean.

The British Virgin Islands in 1980 banned Rastas from setting foot in the territory. Several groups are trying to repeal the law. It's still on the books, though Rasta visitors are not turned away but complain of harassment at the airport.

In Grenada last year, prison officials told four Rastafarian inmates they would have to cut their dreadlocks to prevent disease and the smuggling of contraband. A court challenge is pending.

Discrimination hasn't stopped some from cashing in on the faith, whose colors of red, green and gold earn millions in sales of T-shirts, shoes and the crocheted tams into which they tuck their hair.

Television ads woo tourists with white-sand beaches and friendly Rastas to the rhythm of the famous Marley anthem "One Love."

"It's a mockery. They use us like a style, a fashion," said Solo, who plans to bring up his concerns at the conference.

One invited guest who won't be attending is Jamaican Prime Minister P.J. Patterson. He declined because of a scheduling conflict, said his spokesman Huntley Medley.

Howard Hamilton, Jamaica's public defender, said it's time for the country to fully recognize it's homegrown religion, including the use of marijuana as a sacrament.

"They have paid their dues," said Hamilton.

Politicians have promised to explore decriminalizing marijuana. Rastas aren't holding their breath, so to speak.

"America, England, Japan, that's where we get respect, not Jamaica," said Boyd, grinding bits of the lime-green herb. "Jamaicans don't want to know about their culture."

Taco Bell Pays $27,000 To Settle Religious Discrimination Lawsuit

By ("Huffington Post," April 30, 2012)

Extracted from http://wwrn.org/articles/37200/

Fayetteville, USA - The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has announced that Family Foods, Inc., a company that operates a number of Taco Bell restaurants in North Carolina, has agreed to pay $27,000 to settle a religious discrimination lawsuit they filed last year on behalf of an employee that was fired after refusing to cut his hair for religious reasons.

Christopher Abbey, 27, worked at a Taco Bell in Fayetteville, N.C., from 2004 until 2010, when managers asked him to cut his long hair in accordance with the restaurant's grooming policy, Occupational Health and Safety magazine reports. But Abbey refused to comply with the policy on the grounds that getting a haircut violates the Nazirite religion, which he has been practicing since age 15.

According to the EEOC, "Nazirites base their religious beliefs on references in the Old Testament to individuals who took a special vow of abstinence. In accordance with this vow, Nazirites do not cut their hair, believing that long hair is a way of showing their devotion to God."

In July 2011, EEOC regional attorney Lynette Barnes and trial lawyer Katherine Zimmerman filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Eastern District of North Carolina alleging that Family Foods, Inc. violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which requires companies employing 15 workers or more to "reasonably accommodate" their workers' religious practices unless doing so results in "undue hardship" for the company.

The lawsuit demanded that Family Foods., Inc. pay a number of damages including back pay, job search costs, and compensation for "emotional pain, suffering, inconvenience, humiliation."

In order to avoid a jury trial, the company agreed to pay $27,000 and adopt a formal policy regarding religious accommodation in addition to holding training sessions informing employees about Title VII.

Labor law attorney Kim Ryan, who reviewed the case for 9News Denver, said that a number of cases have been filed in the past on behalf of employees who refused to comply with employers' demands to change their appearance, and judges have ruled both for and against workers. In one recent case, a Muslim woman sued Abercrombie and Fitch for requiring her to remove her headscarf during shifts, and courts sided with the clothing chain.

In 2011, a Roanoke, Va.-based moving company paid $30,000 to a settle a lawsuit filed by the EEOC on behalf of a Rastafarian who was fired after refusing to cut his dreadlocks.