Rasta Reggae Music

[Epistemes]

Should reggae music which incorporates lyrics about Rasta doctrine be avoided?

If you don’t know about Rastafarianism, then read here.

 

[Nevarlander]

Do you not listen to the Beatles because of their forays into Eastern spirituality? It’s the same kind of thing, but with a different odd religion.

 

[tomarin]

well you might as well avoid all roots reggae as it’s hard to find any that doesn’t reflect rastafarianism in some fashion, if only as a kind of popular style. but i think it would be a mistake to do so because

1. musically speaking, a lot of it is great
2. it is a music of advocacy that is squarely behind and from the point of view of “the sufferah”, the impoverished masses of jamaica who yearn for relief from their economic and social oppression. ok, that sounds pretty left-wing, but it is also the core constituency of jesus.
3. (echoing the previous poster) if you take this philosophy of purity to extremes, you might as well not listen to any country western music for fear of endorsing evangelical christianity.
4. personally for me it is hard to take rastafarianism as a religious doctrine seriously.