Week 7, Blog 2

I thought that the historical and cultural conditions behind the emergence of Rastafari were interesting. There were so many different movements that influenced Rastafari. It was heavily influenced by back to Africa movements (i.e. Marcus Garvey). It was because of movements such as Garveyism and Ethiopianism that the crowning of Haile Selassie became significant among certain groups of Jamaicans. It was actually a rather complex combination of elements that led to the emergence of Rastafari.
Geertz's definition of religion talks about the element of "an aura of factuality." Early proponents of Rastafari were able to achieve this through the usage of various biblical passages that backed up their ideas. The various socio-cultural movements going on at the time served a similar purpose in helping give the movement power.
It seems that for a religious movement to gain strength many things have to come together at the right time.