THE EDITOR, Madam:

MR. CECIL GUTZMORE'S careful analysis of Mutabaruka's lectures leaves me hopeful that very soon Jamaicans will see that their contributions to international affairs and mainstream academia are no less significant than those of their British and American "masters". The rise of reggae, spearheaded by Bob Marley, Jimmy Cliff, and others, and the resurgence of Rastafarianism, especially since Bob Marley, are examples of Jamaica's international clout.

The fact that dreadlocks are being worn in all corners of the globe, from Japan to Gabon, suggests that Jamaica's global impact can now be compared to that of little Israel, from whence came Messiah Jesus, after whose birth time has thereafter been reckoned. This leads me to the main point of my letter, that is, the legitimacy of the Jamaican religious thought pattern, as outlined by Professor Gutzmore, propagated by Mutabaruka and preached by Rastafarians.

The topic is too vast to be treated in one article but two points must be raised.

First, should not the Jamaican contribution to the Gospel of Christ be taken as seriously as that of the Israelitish contribution? Were not the sayings of Messiah Jesus collected and canonised by his contemporaries in his social group, Judea? Why, therefore, can't the sayings of, say, Bob Marley and Marcus Garvey be given similar reverence? Weren't Paul, Peter, John, and other New Testament writers proclaiming their religio-sociological convictions, as influenced by their beliefs in Messiah Jesus? Why should the proclamations of Jamaican visionaries like Marley and Marcus be any less important? Is not the entire Old Testament prophecy a record of the religio-sociological experience of one people, the Jews? Is the Jamaican experience any less significant?

Secondly, the true interpretation of the Bible record, as debated by Mutabaruka and the Rev. Clinton Chisholm, as noted by Mr. Gutzmore, must be carefully examined and put in proper Jamaican context. We now know that the so-called Holy Roman Empire used Christianity and the Bible for its own selfish means. We also know that the British imperialists did the same, and many contemporary American fundamentalists are continuing the chicanery. Our forefathers in Africa, and to some extent, in the Caribbean and Jamaica, allowed things to fall apart when they succumbed to the brainwashing of the Eurocentric imperialists.

Twenty-first century Jamaican scholars ? from theologians to academicians ? have a responsibility to put things back together again.

Mr. Gutzmore's article, as well as many other honest intellectual discourses being publicised by The Gleaner, Madam Editor, suggest to me that Jamaicans will finally lick the Humpty Dumpty mentality.

I am etc.,

Rev. MERVIN STODDART

E-mail: INMerv@aol.com

Altamonte Springs, Florida

Via Go-Jamaica

Top

sc:jg dt:02/21/2001