You said: "But brother, even you might see posting this up as a point of ridicule in that is was likened to "western arrogance" is a little much, no? This would seemingly ignite the peanut gallery (which it did) and alienate a Rastafari bredren who posted his thoughts here for discussion."

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Well, I have my ways for addressing issues and others have theirs… I already posted my views on that quote and it SHOULD have been of concern to others. Even his response should have been of concern to others. But those trapped in just symbols have often demonstrated their support for the foul conduct of their peers and even join in to ridicule others. And they hail up Selassie with all of that.

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You said: "We can reason on an intellectual level, but we must set the tone. Since it is called Rastafari Speaks, lets let the Rastafari speak. To condemn HIM as a despot and a tyrant here in the presence of strong Rastamen and sistren, well, if that won't illicit some hot fiyah, I don't know what would. It is not up to us to instill some sort of doctrine or uniformity to Rastafari, but to argue from an intellectual standpoint against ones religious beliefs is an exercise in futility."

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I see 'Rastas' argue and denounce the religious beliefs of others on this site for over two years and often the few very regular ones were intolerant of opposing views and this conduct was condoned. The few past regular ones were not hailing up Selassie as their concept of divinity until they got themselves in trouble and wanted popular support.

So what if someone challenges these beliefs… that is no big thing, unless these beliefs are so fragile that it cannot withstand scrutiny. It is no use proclaiming "Back to Africa" and don't engage the views of other Africans, many of whom do not sight Selassie as their divine leader. So in a way holding on to a ((( NARROW definition ))) of Rastafari does not contribute to the wider development of Africa and is in itself part of the problem.

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You said: "Since this is also called Africa speaks, lets reason on what we can do to help the situation, not re-hash all the root causes again and argue over the merit of anthropological studies from Babylon are a wicked thing. But I for one wouldn't see the problem with people of all races speaking truthfully how they understaqnd these things. It could only further a just cause. evel."

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I don't see how any discussion towards solutions could take place unless the people involved move away from denial and get better informed on the subjects. So I will post more articles at intervals for whosoever is interested.

For the most part denial, distraction and distortions are how SOME want to engage, so of course it will get heated. It is not like if there was ever 'Rastafari UNITY' and someone is disuniting us. It is because many do not examine all these issues, unity seems so illusive. But it is not up to any one of us to force solutions on everyone. It also serves no useful purpose to try to stifle Black-African ones who wish to expose their grievances within the context of African development.