JAH - Still Looking ----yes

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Still Looking ----yes

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Time Zone: EST (New York, Toronto)

Messenger: Ten

Sent: 6/18/2007 3:22:10 PM

Praises
Give thanks unto the Most High King Sellasie I, Conquering Lion of The Tribe of Judah. Still Looking I hope we can try n over each other without things getting heated and things degenerate into name calling an such. Thank you for apologizing, I too must humbly apologise to the I because I’ve also said some things that weren’t very nice to the I. If this is a place for reasoning, it should remain so and as a Rasta I should uphold I dignity especially in discussing matters of faith and seek to uphold those examples of the spirit laid down by the Father. I’m sorry I allowed myself to get angry and attack you on repeated occasions. True in some instances the I could only react in the same way as a method of defence.
Having said that I s’pose we can reason now. First on Zim and cultural beliefs, that way of life is very much alive in spite of colonialism and modernity, plus the overbearing influence of Christianity. Rain making ceremonies, masvikiro (spirit possession of a person) are still performed and maybe quest your wife more - assuming she is about the same age as you she would know about kupira mudzimu - offerings to ancestors and all of that stuff. If she grew up in the rural areas as most of her generation at that time then she’d know alot about this stuff for that generation and one slightly older were the first ones to move in really massive groups from village to town.
Ok so your perspective on God, I’m still trying to get that. For the Ite (and I know Empress Yaa, nah want to see this qsn but I need to quest the I) does God exist and in what form? Sometimes you say God is a weak term next you say it is a word with meaning. And then you speak of JAH as though JAH were Creator but then also speak of the big bang as your explanation for this world. I don’t quite understand that - it seems like HE is there in one context but in another totally absent.
It seems as though you do have some recognition of God but I can’t quite make out in what sense. And you say you hail Sellasie I, but I guess your hailing is not in a religious sense but more that you acknowledge His Majesty as a great African King - one vigilant in the struggle to end African oppression and one who was a sterling example for Africans to follow. But in the religious/spiritual sense your conception of God (whatever it is) does not envision Sellasie I as Lord.
That’s what I can get from what you say - but then if you believe in the big bang and evolution theories say man began in Eastern Africa, plus the physical proof of the Solomonic line of Kings then surely Sellasie I can be seen as God in that way too, rite?
And the Bible for you it has the spiritual value but in terms of the things it speaks like the flood, or the people like Moses n Jesus for you they never existed but are makings from myths of other cultures. So for the I does the Bible read as a collection of some of the world’s myths and nothing is true? Manna never rained from heaven, the flood never happened and Jesus never walked on water, Samson never existed, the commandments never fell from the heavens....the list is endless of things the I says never happened. But why do you say this - because you’ve not found physical evidence?
I hope I’ve summed up rite but everything connects up in one way or another so whichever you begin to reason on is irie still. Jah Bless.

Messenger: Ras KebreAB

Sent: 6/18/2007 3:48:44 PM

When you look up at creation, you must look at the Father/Mother of creation.
then you will sight the Black Man/Woman for what and who they truly are
Once you sight the Black Man/Woman, it is natural that you look up to Africa.
Once you sight Africa, you must look up to Ithiopia.
Once you sight Ithiopia, You must look up to HIM Haile Selassie I
Once you sight HIM, you will look up to the Creator.
Once you sight the creator, you must look up to creation.
Once you look up to creation, you must look at the Father/Mother..................and again,, and again

I Father have the world in His Hands
Blssed Ises
Holy I JAH Rastafari

Messenger: still looking

Sent: 6/18/2007 6:05:27 PM

Bro Dominiq Yehyah Anbesa,

in the post where i asked you to show me where i was angry, was I angry?

"negative emotions"? i am not angry or feeling negative emotions, now if you are feeling negative emotions because I veiws are different in some areas (not all), i have no control over that.

please, tell me how i am blocking off reasoning? is it because i disagree?

i mean--my last post on this thread i think is pretty calm and clearly explains that i am not angry, yet you still seem to thinnk i am.

i wish i could help you to see this, but only time will tell if you hear me.

respect

Messenger: still looking

Sent: 6/18/2007 6:48:59 PM

Respect ten,

let me just speak to 2 of these many good and fair questions. the first will be just a little more on my wife and then i'll explain the god issue as it pertains to I.

my wife grew up in harare - though they had a home in the village. her grand father was pursuaded by the seventh day adventist so she was raised by their rules. if you talk to her father you would swear he was next door neighbors with moses ( of which by the way me and him have had many great discussions on his and my views). her great-grand father knew of the ancestors. so my wife has some knowledge. there are some in the country that use the old traditions some use the christians and there are some that use a combination--as to the breakdown i don't know. i asked her just the other day how many seventh days would you say there are and she compared it to roman catholics in the states.

now the god question:

"Ok so your perspective on God, I’m still trying to get that. For the Ite (and I know Empress Yaa, nah want to see this qsn but I need to quest the I) does God exist and in what form?"

let me just take this question for now and we can go to others after we get some overstanding----Let me say before i start i will share with you the same thing i said to my zimbabwean father. there is a light at the top of a mountain ---i wish to get there and so do you as well as millions of others--the beauty of the mountain is that there are millions of ways to get there.

"Does god exist" to I? NO. ( i will not use we or us so i do not try to include someone in a concept that they do not wish to be in--i only speak for me) this is what i know; life exist and there is energy that resides in everything. this energy has been here since and it will be here endlessly. i am of this energy, this same energy from billions of years ago is here today and it is not separate from us--it is I manifest in my present form (which boggles my mind how energy comes together to make the things we witness--truly amazing to me).

i can't ask it for favors or to watch over me and my family, i can't ask it for strength, because it is not a thing or some being --life is it--it is energy.

i am energy so i call on myself for favors. i call on myself to watch over me and my family.i call on myself for strength. i call on myself to help others.

i use the term jah to represent the energy of life. to me the phrase INI reminds me that i am not separate from this energy. too many religions have taken this energy (which you may refer to as god) out of man. thay have placed man on a different level than that of which they are. listen to people speak of "nature" as if they are not a part of it. Listen to them speak of their "environment" as if they are not a part of it.
Listen to how people speak of those from another country and they do not even know that they are them---all one--all the same energy.

i was out on a motorcycle ride today listening to ziggy and this song came on that is pretty close to how i feel:

"there is a knowledge that we all know--yet we don't know. There is a spirit that we all know, yet we don't know."

To me this means that this (life) is unexplainable. we know yet we don't know.

let me stop there for now and see if it helps us to overstanding.

much respect

P.s. hope i did not offend i

Messenger: Ten

Sent: 6/18/2007 8:01:20 PM

Give thanks for the response and no I you’ve not offended I in any way, only that I am starting to see where the I is coming from. So if everything is energy and that energy is what you say represents the energy of life then I don’t see us at odds in that respect, only thing is I name this energy JAH, God but you call it JAH but not at a Supreme Being. But then you argue the same thing as other faiths as well like Buddhism and Raj Yoga who see everything as energy and God is that tiny point of light within that connects to another tiny point of light they say is the energy of this earth - so its a flow of energies between being and Supreme Being. But for you that exchange does not exist, its an internal energy that interacts with other energies in this world. And in order to grow this energy you must feed the spirit with values of love n goodness so I guess that’s where the teachings of the Bible come in. If my overing thus far is correct then again we have much more in common than we are at odds with each other. True there are millions of ways to get to Mt Zion and life gives you that freedom to chart your own trek as it suits you.
On the I’s wife well ok I understand now why she can’t offer much info, I grew up in the city in a Christian family too so I can over why she’d be cut off from her cultural roots, esp with that kind of religious fanaticism round her. A lot of the times people were conditioned to shame their cultural beliefs and they were thought of as pagan, even having an animal totem, but that’s how people would identify themselves within different tribes in order to prevent marrying one’s relation. Anyway I’ve a different perspective and in future works I’m going back to my roots and hope to teach on Shona culture.
But back to the God concept - I have to ask; why the appeal of Rasta for you then if God is not real or did you discover this when you came to know more of Rasta and Africa? The way the I reasons on the term I n I is the point that for I God exists, if energy represents life, then both that life as representative of me and that energy as the force through which I exist is God. I don’t know if makes sense but that’s how I over it. True that life is unexplainable, but at the same time that is the beauty of it, and that’s a sign of the infinite power I Creator has.
As for the Bible, well you can offer your view on that, if you think I've understood your take on the Most High. Bless

Messenger: Ark I

Sent: 6/19/2007 12:16:45 AM

Let I ask you something still looking, did those christians that brutalized the people in africa, europe, americas, asia, australia act by the example of Jesus Christ?

The wicked use any means they can to perform wickedness, whether by politics, tribal, religion or whatever else. If you want to know what a christian is, look at Christ, if you want to know what RasTafarI is, look at RasTafarI. And the same goes for Buddha, Krishna, Muhamed and all others.

Hear the words of the Most High RasTafarI, Haile Selassie I,

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When He sacrificed himself at Golgotha for the atonement of our sin, He prayed with His last breath for the forgiveness of those who had tortured Him saying, 'Father, forgive them for they know not what they do'. Shame on those of us who are Christians and do not follow the way of the Savior of the World, whose life was filled with kindness, humility, and martyrdom! If we lived by the laws he gave us and were worthy of being called Christian, peace would have reigned on this earth.

Men were supposed to be the equals of the living angels who unceasingly sang praises before the eternal God. Had this been so, peoples of the world would not have been divided along lines of enmity.
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If you don't see God then that doesn't bother I at all. Your path is your path. I See and Love the Most High God Jah RasTafarI, and nothing can ever change I, that is something I can gaurantee.

I also do see that it is for all of I and I to be One with God, with no separation, but I also know that to be One with God I and I have to walk in the ways of God and to have the same thought and direction of Jah, and I am still learning the proper way to walk, but I will always Itinue to walk towards the Most High. If you look at these reasonings you will see how I see Jah Oneness:

One

Who is RasTafarI?

Ocean

Faith is a hard thing for people to Iverstand, but those that Iverstand it see what comes from Faith. They never needed proof for their Faith, but the results of their Faith shows proof upon proof, so with all that I and I see, it is impossible to doubt again.

Here is a reasoning I made about Faith,

Faith

I have a comment about you trying to compare yourself to Christ and position yourself as if we are cruicifying you, you said:
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do you know why the jesus character got crucified? because he f****d with the powers to be. well i and a couple others have come here with veiws different then the powers to be on this board and what happens-----you try to crucify us. this boards reaction to i is a real life example of how the jesus story worked.
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But then you go on to say:
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maybe my conviction comes across as anger --but please believe me when i say ----there is no anger on my part-----
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i am sorry if you feel i "tear" people apart. just as others do on this board i state what i know and just like others (yourself included) i don't waver. if that feels offensive to you i'm sorry. i know i don't name call or use capitals much (i guess that means yelling). if you know how to change my font on this pare to 5 or something i would so that you can see i'm not angry or heated up when i post-----i speak assertively and that may be offensive to some, but i'm not going to be passive.
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You talk about your
-conviction
-stating what you know
-non-wavering
-assertiveness
-non-passive

Why are these qualities in yourself considered Christ like, and those qualities in people who differ in opinion from you considered to be of the crucifiers?

If you spoke lies and wickedness about my friend, who I know to be a righteous person, who lives an exemplary life - I would defend I friend strongly and blaze the falsities that came out of your mouth. So what do you think I and I will do when you come and speak lies and wickedness about I and I God.

You also went on to say.
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and ten feel free to say anything that is in direct oposition to I --I give you my word that I won't think you are tearing me apart.
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Ps. My students love my class because they are allowed to speak/share/argue/and question anything that i say. time and time again they say i don't treat them like their other teachers --i listen to them.
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You tell us to feel free and you talk like you are a person who has no problem with people who speak/share/argue/and question anything that you say. But then you act as if we are doing something wrong when we do that and even compare it to crucifixion.

You are like a politician, playing on people's emotions, striking people subtly and then trying to make them look bad for retaliating. You probably get a lot of experience with that kind of technique with your students, you have had a lot of opportunities to see how various types of people can be influenced.

I know this is a long post, but don't think it was made in anger, I am very calm writing it. I am just being thorough.

Ark I
RasTafarI
Haile Selassie I

Messenger: Sis Irijah

Sent: 6/19/2007 6:04:34 AM

greetings In HIM Hola Name

not to get off topic here or butt in, but.....
this sis sees many ones on the outernet claiming the title of "ELDER". it is not a title to be used loosely. one can ONLY, in Rastafar I, become an elder, when another TRUE elder bestows the title upon InI. one first is appointed as a junior elder and then is elevated to elder at appropriate time. (and to even become a junior elder....this only happens when one is of a particular age and has much length in trod)
this is the true and only way a one can call themselves an elder.
this sis does not know about becoming elder in orthodox church, but in RASTAFAR I, this is how it is.
ones should not use the term elder unless they are deemed so seen.
Rastafar I see and know.

another thing that bothers this sis just a tad......all this talk about je-sus and so on.
christianity and so on.

InI are RASTAFAR I
there is no mix up with christianity
so if ones are mixing up and CON-fused, perhaps ones need to go to the root of Rastafar I and study...truly study.
Rastafar I is Rastafar I
christianity is christianity
no mix up mix up seen
ones cannot sit on two sides of fence.
many are called and few are chosen.

Selassie I each and every time
no apologies.

Messenger: Yaa Asantewa

Sent: 6/19/2007 6:40:32 AM

Holy Emmanuel I Selassie I... JjjjAAH!

RAS TAFARI!!!

LOVED the blocking of that wordsound. Straight up!!

Haile I Selassie I EVERY TIME!

Give thanks Mother Earth Mama Omega! Empress Menen I Selassie I.

Chant hottah fiyah on CONfusion Sistrin.

Loved that. Loved it.

Selah.

Messenger: Ten

Sent: 6/19/2007 6:54:03 AM

I wonder why Christianity is burnt up yet His Majesty speaks of the Ehtiopian nation as a Christian nation. It is in that context in which Christianity, Jesus are discussed and I feel (speaking for myself alone) it contributes to an understanding of Rastafari as its part of the story. Rigid distinctions between things make them fixed and static, they stay locked in a period and are not free to criss cross and mingle to develop other ideas. For I Christianity is a part of Ethiopia and Rastafari too and these words from His Majesty show why I take this position:

The Church and Christianity:
Our Christianity is not restricted to a given church and I stress above all that We do not wish to make distinctions.

On Christmas:
The birth of Our Lord is a joyous family event. However, I do not only rejoice with my kindred and family since the whole Ethiopian nation is my family. I say this in the context of Christmas being observed by all churches in Ethiopia. I rejoice on this occasion also because of Jesus Christ being given for us. For He was born in the lowly place and got warmth by animals. This fact encourages us to celebrate it with joy.
When I have visited the five large continents, I have not been anywhere where there was not a church. All over the world I have come to know that the birth of Jesus Christ is celebrated.

At Evangelical Congress:
As you all know, it is centuries past since Our country, Ethiopia, accepted the Gospel of Christ. We learn from the Holy Scriptures that the first Ethiopian who confessed faith in Jesus Christ was baptised only a few months after the death and resurrection of Our Lord. From then on Christianity spread steadily among the Ethiopian people and became the religion of the Ethiopians in the Fourth Century. It is a matter of pride for Us, a special cause for thankfulness to Almighty God, when We recall that the Christian Faith was introduced to Our people by the Imperial Court and through the instrumentality of the then reigning Monarch.
Ethiopian history testifies that our ancestors, who rose after the first Christian Emperors, were men and women who had great zeal and keenness for the Faith of Christ and who did all in their power for its propagation among our people. Many among them, like Emperor Caleb who lived in the Fifth Century and Emperor Lalibela and his immediate successors who lived in the Twelfth Century, have been canonized

Messenger: Ten

Sent: 6/19/2007 7:13:03 AM

and by the way when the term elder was used I might note it was with a small e for starters and it was in reference to a person's age as the posts will show. It was used in terms of its everyday meaning, the term can be applied in that sense as well as in terms of religious office.

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