Factors That Led To The Spread Of Rastafarianism Outside Jamaica (Essay Sample)

Factors That Led to the Spread of Rastafarianism outside Jamaica
Reggae music fuelled the spread of the Rastafarian religion overseas. According to Savishinsky (1994), this music acted as a medium upon which this religion spread from the island of Jamaica to North America, Europe, Africa, the Pacific, and New Zealand. He argues that the terms Rastafarianism and reggae have become synonymous. Further, the author informs that much evidence points out that reggae has been the principal medium through which many globally have acquired knowledge of this religion. For example, the writer examines that about four hundred Indians in Miami have devoted themselves to reggae, particularly Bob Marley's music and the fundamental Rasta tenets conveyed in this music. Järvenpää (2014) asserts that Finish roots reggae artists identify with Rastafarianism through the foundational dread talk lexicon that infuses religious motifs. Chawane (2012) argues that the live performances by Bob Marley in 1980 and Peter Tosh in 1983 in Zimbabwe and Swaziland correspondingly drew the attention of South Africans to Rastafarianism. The role of reggae music in the proliferation of Rastafarianism outside Jamaica is immense.
Besides, Jamaican Rastafarians acted as missionaries and ambassadors of their religion. According to Savishinsky (1994), following the calls for repatriation, Jamaican Rastafarians traveled Africa extensively, and some even settled in the continent. He adds that his encounters with West African Rastafarians indicate that such groups owe their origins to the Jamaican or Anglo-Jamaican Rasta adherents who had sojourned the continent during the two-decade repatriation campaigns. For instance, the author argues that Wolde Mikal, who established the EWF in Accra, and his successor Ras Walda Ab, founded a small Rasta community in Goree Island, Senegal. He further asserts that the twelve tribes of Israel in Ghana emerged as a replica of the twelve tribes of Jamaica. Most importantly, the author attributes their unprecedented success to the deeper understanding and knowledge they bring that supersede the message in music alone. Apart from reggae music as an avenue, Rastafarianism spread to West Africa thanks to the activities of ardent Jamaican Rastafarians who worked tirelessly to propagate their belief systems.
Third, Rasta Judeo-Christian messages and millenarian visions contributed to its growth beyond Jamaica. Savishinsky (1994) argues that Rastafarian emphasis on millenarian and Judeo-Christian teachings, notably in the book of Revelations, appealed to West Africans. He argues that Africans, already familiar with missionary teachings on tenets of Christianity, were readily converted. His evidence adds that this religion appealed to West Africans, who were already opposed to Eurocentric doctrines, due to its criticism of institutionalized white Christianity. For example, he informs that over 90% of Rastafarians in Ghana were once Christians. He adds that the solid Christian background in Ghana explains why Accra has a large Rasta population. Also, the author informs that this religion reached the Gambia, which is predominantly Muslim. Rastafarianism found a soft landing due to Judeo-Christian teachings in West Africa. Rasta's teachings re