Greetings
in the name of I&I God & King, Emperor Haile Selassie
the first and HRH Empress Menen
Give thanks
for your enquiry, it is always good to seek knowledge of other
people's cultures and faiths.
First
let I state that I speak only for myself and can only give you
my humble opinion on the questions that you have asked.
Concerning
religious tolerance : I am tolerant of all other faiths, I might
not agree with them still I think that the Almighty speaks to
different people in different ways. I am also interested in
other peoples religions and love to learn about them and to
reason with people who follow them.
Ras Tafari
is the only true religion for me, for others I cannot speak. Not
everyone is Ras Tafari and people can't become Ras Tafari. This
may sound strange as obviously more people take up the faith all
the time. This is not a case of becoming anything, it is a case
of realising who you are. For example most Rastafari people if
asked how long they have been Rastafari will tell you that they
have been Rastafari from creation. I have always been Rastafari,
still it took me quite a while to come to this realisation and
to start living the livity. (Livity = way of life)
Concerning
Hell. I do not think that hell is somewhere that you go when you
die if you have been bad. Hell is right here on Earth and so is
Heaven for that matter. According to your works you will get
paid either in this life or a future incarnation.
I stress
once more that this is my opinion only, I cannot speak for
others. Rastafari is not a faith where someone tells you
what to believe. It is a spiritual path where through reasoning,
prayer, meditation, reading, education, life experiences etc the
truth becomes plain. My own knowledge grows all the time as
I learn more every day and my opinions change with the
growth of overstanding. Once you know something you do not
believe it anymore. Believe has a lie in the middle of it and
implies some measure of uncertainty and blind faith.
"Since
nobody can interfere in the realm of God we should tolerate
and live side by side with those of other faiths. In the
mystic traditions of the different religions we have a
remarkable unity of spirit. Whatever religion they may
profess, they are spiritual kinsmen. While the different
religions in their historic forms bind us to limited groups
and militate against the development of loyalty to the world
community, the mystics have already stood for the fellowship
of humanity in harmony with the spirit of the mystics of ages
gone by.
"No one should question the faith of others, for no human
being can judge of the ways of God."