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F.A.Q.s

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
Lots of people contact Rasta Ites with questions and I try to answer them as best I can.
Some of these questions and answers will be posted here....... a sort of FAQ page. 
I stress that answers are only IMHO (in my humble opinion). Please feel free to contact Rasta Ites with more reasoning.
JAH blessings and guidance

Questions Index
On this page: Other faiths, prayingDietary laws & practice 

What do rastas think of religious tolerance? Is Rastafari the only true religion and will all non-rastas end up in hell?
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.
Here is a quote from His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie the first (see more of this speech here)
"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."
I was wondering if you could provide me with some prayers. Sometimes I feel confused because I don't really know how to pray or what to say. I feel that I should be blessing the food and giving thanks when I wake up and before I rest but not sure exactly what to say. If you could please send me some prayers along with the one you sent before I would really appreciate it.

Apart from the prayer that I already sent the I which is the Ethiopian Prayer there are not really any set prayers that I know of.
I would start to pray always by glorifying and thanking His Imperial Majesty for his blessings. Give thanks for the I food, for life, for family, for idrens/friends etc. Remember those who are suffering. Pray for those the I might know who need special support. Really the creed "that the hungry be fed, the sick nourished, the aged protected and the infants cared for" says it all. Check the psalms as they are all prayers and throughout the bible there are various prayers including of course the instructions that Iyesu the Christ gave to I&I.
Check these sites for Biblical prayers
http://biblia.com/prayer2/ 
http://christianity.about.com/od/prayersinthebible/Notable_Prayers_in_the_Bible.htm 
http://1stholistic.com/Spl_prayers/prayer_prayers-of-the-bible.htm 
Also reading the Bible itself should be a prayer to the Most High.
I hope this helps

Why no pork?

As Rastafari I&I follow the Biblical food laws. These prohibit the eating of certain animals - 

Leviticus 11 - 

[3] Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is clovenfooted, and cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that shall ye eat. 
[7] And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be clovenfooted, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean to you.
[26] The carcases of every beast which divideth the hoof, and is not clovenfooted, nor cheweth the cud, are unclean unto you: every one that toucheth them shall be unclean.

Deuteronomy 14 -

[7] Nevertheless these ye shall not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the cloven hoof; as the camel, and the hare, and the coney: for they chew the cud, but divide not the hoof; therefore they are unclean unto you.

There are also other food laws in the books of law which prohibit the eating of shellfish, any fish without fins & scales and lay out which birds etc that humans are allowed to eat.
Most of I&I Rastafari go much further than this in our use of the foods Jah has given us. Most Rastafari are vegetarian, many are vegan and a few only eat raw foods. This is because I&I ideal is to live as Jah intended when He created man and woman.

In Genesis 3 we were given only the herbs and fruits for food.

[29] And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

It is not until after the flood which destroyed all the vegetation that we are told that we can eat meat -

check Genesis 9

[2] And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered. [3] Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. [4] But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.

Personally I feel that as it is possible and healthy to live life without depriving other creatures of theirs then why would I want to eat meat at all.

Another question concerning food can be found here


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