Rastafari and Haile Selassie I

The prime basic belief of the Rastafarians is that Haile Selassie I is the living God for the black race. Selassie, whose previous name was Ras Tafari, was the black Emperor of Ethiopia The Rastas say their scriptures phrophesised him as the one with "the hair of whose head was like wool (matted hair of a black man), whose feet were like unto burning brass (black skin)". Rastas believe that Selassie was the Jesus that Christianity speaks of; that the white man tricked the world into believing that God was white.

Selassie was not a Rastafarian himself. In fact, no one is really sure what he thought of the whole thing. It is kind of ironic that when a group of Rastas went to Ethiopia to honor him, an official of the palace told them to go away or they might upset the king because he himself was a devout Christian. Instead of making the Rastas question their belief, this only made it stronger, for as they claim, their god is not suppose to know he is god.

When Haile Selassie died, many Rastas would not believe it at first. They believed that it was a trick of the media to try and bring their faith down because Rastas believe that true Rastas are immortal. To compensate for his death they believe that his atoms spread through out the world and became part of new babies, therefore, his life is eternal.

The Rastafarian name for God (Selassie) is Jah.