Take, toke. This is my weed given to you...

[Shockeye]

Sinead O'Connor says she's now a Rastafarian

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) -- Irish pop singer Sinead O'Connor says she's found solace in the Rastafarian religion, which exalts the black race and considers marijuana a sacrament.

At a launch party for her new reggae album, O'Connor said, "I am one of those human beings who would not be alive today if it was not for the teachings of Rastafari."

The 38-year-old O'Connor is best known for her close-cropped hair and a hit song in 1991.

Ordained as a priest by a splinter Catholic group, she tore up a photo of Pope John Paul II on Saturday Night Live in 1992.

Her last CD in 2003 was titled, "She Who Dwells in the Secret Place of the Most High Shall Abide Under the Shadow of the Almighty."

[schild]

I hope she forgets to pass the dutchie and gets capped.

[Paelos]

I am one of those human beings who would not be alive today if it was not for the teachings of Super Mario Brothers.

[Murgos]

Ahh, Sinead "I'm too pretty, I'll shave my head so no one will love me" O'Connor.  Too bad she's such a nut she actually was a fairly competent singer.

[Ironwood]

She was pretty.

[kaid]

She still is pretty. She is also bonkers.

[HaemishM]

Why does anyone still consider her news, even useless news?

[schild]

I guess she's pretty if you can look past the emotional trainwreck on her face.

[voodoolily]

She was great as Our Lady in The Butcher Boy. "Fer fuck's sake, Francie." You guys should rent it if you like depressing (yet funny) Irish films.

[stray]

I've always liked her. Beautiful voice, beautiful face, and takes absolutely no shit from anyone (to her own detriment maybe, but what the hell....).

[Signe]

My word of the week is freak.

She's a freak.

[stray]

My word of the week is freak.

She's a freak.

A good thing imo. 

[HaemishM]

Not that kind of freak.

[voodoolily]

Either way you slice it, a freak is a good thing, be it "supafreak" or "wave your freak flag high". "Freak of nature", not so much. Sinead is more of "le freaque, cest chic" if you ask me.

[stray]

I like freaks of all kinds, but "supafreaks" are actually the ones I care about the least.

Freak Power and all that

[Llava]

So she's an Irish girl practicing a religion that exalts the black race?

I don't know shit about Rastafarianism, so I don't know how accurate that is, but does it remind anyone else of:



?

[stray]

So she's an Irish girl practicing a religion that exalts the black race?

I don't know shit about Rastafarianism, so I don't know how accurate that is, but does it remind anyone else of:



?

Rastarianism is no less valid a branch of Christianity than any others. It has it's roots in the Coptic Church, but departs in a Joseph Smith/Jehovah's Witness kind of way (by exalting King Haile Selassie I as the reincarnation of Christ --- Something he never claimed himself). Yes, there are some racial specific motives behind that (and it's founder, Marcus Garvey), but other than that, it's just about being irie, man....Err..Mon.

On a sidenote: Sinead, before this, was a Catholic (some people think she ripped that picture of the Pope because she hated Catholics. It wasn't that at all. She just hated the corruption). Even stranger, she later on was ordained a female priest in a spinoff Roman Catholic Church.....But I guess that didn't work out for her.

[Llava]

Me, I just hate Catholics.

[stray]

Me, I just hate Catholics.

So do Rastafarians.

[edit]  Pointless

[Soln]

wasn't she a woman "mother" last year?

[HaemishM]

Don't forget lesbian.

Look, her conversion to Rasta is about as convincing and pointless to me as Madonna to Karbala.

[Paelos]

Look, O'Conner becoming a Rasta makes as much sense as Al Sharpton joining the Klan. That's pretty much the end of sanity.

[CmdrSlack]

Look, O'Conner becoming a Rasta makes as much sense as Al Sharpton joining the Klan. That's pretty much the end of sanity.

Rastas hate whitey?  Shouldn't being baked reduce "teh hate?"

[stray]

Look, O'Conner becoming a Rasta makes as much sense as Al Sharpton joining the Klan. That's pretty much the end of sanity.

How so? I don't get it. How much do you know about her really? She's already been leaning in this direction for a while...In her music, in her speech, etc..So it comes as no surprise to me. It's not like Rastafarianism is exclusively for black Jamaicans either. It's a lot more complicated than that.

/shrug

I don't know. I've got a friend who's a Rasta, who's white, and far as I'm concerned, it's the most positive thing that's ever happened to the guy.

[stray]

Look, O'Conner becoming a Rasta makes as much sense as Al Sharpton joining the Klan. That's pretty much the end of sanity.

Rastas hate whitey?

Heh. I think he's gotten his impression of Rastas from "Tommy Boy" or something.

Nope, this man would probably define Rasta as it is today:



Have fun, and go to the Bob Marley fest when it comes to your town. You'll meet plenty of cool people there (though to be fair, he actually converted to Coptic/Orthodox before he died).

[Paelos]

Way to miss the whole point guys. It's the ideological move plus the race factor.

O'Conner moving to a primarily black group known for being laid back. I wouldn't exactly call her laid back before this.

Sharpton moving from a radically liberal black group to a radically conservative white group.

Paradigm shifts is the reason for the analogy. The race factor is gravy.

[stray]

Way to miss the whole point guys. It's the ideological move plus the race factor.

O'Conner moving to a primarily black group known for being laid back. I wouldn't exactly call her laid back before this.

Sharpton moving from a radically liberal black group to a radically conservative white group.

Paradigm shifts is the reason for the analogy. The race factor is gravy.

It is laid back, but it's also passionate about things. Which is all she ever really was.

As for laid back Rastas, Peter Tosh played a freaking guitar shaped like an M-16, and not every Bob song is a pie in the sky thing. Like his most famous song is "I Shot the Sheriff", y'know?

Oh, and btw, Bob Marley himself was half white.

[Shockeye]

Oh, and btw, Bob Marley himself was half white.

Obviously it was the bottom half.

[stray]

Oh, and btw, Bob Marley himself was half white.

Obviously it was the bottom half.

I don't get it...And I don't want to get it.

But I miss your posts anyways, Shockeye  :-D

[Paelos]

Way to miss the whole point guys. It's the ideological move plus the race factor.

O'Conner moving to a primarily black group known for being laid back. I wouldn't exactly call her laid back before this.

Sharpton moving from a radically liberal black group to a radically conservative white group.

Paradigm shifts is the reason for the analogy. The race factor is gravy.

It is laid back, but it's also passionate about things. Which is all she ever really was.

As for laid back Rastas, Peter Tosh played a freaking guitar shaped like an M-16, and not every Bob song is a pie in the sky thing. Like his most famous song is "I Shot the Sheriff", y'know?

Oh, and btw, Bob Marley himself was half white.

So Rastas are just people who believe in doing things, but don't actually do anything because of the laid back attitude/drugs? Without sending this to politics I'll just say, I don't understand it. I don't really think the analogy I made was that far from the truth.

[stray]

So Rastas are just people who believe in doing things, but don't actually do anything because of the laid back attitude/drugs? Without sending this to politics I'll just say, I don't understand it. I don't really think the analogy I made was that far from the truth.

You should really read up on Jamaican history before you comment on what they "do" and "don't do". Also: Smoke a joint. Just once. Or at the very least, get out more. The world is not as simple as Officer McGruff told you it was.

As for things outside Jamaica: For a religion stemmed out of the cultures of two third world countries, it's actually pretty remarkable that not only do many people recognize and know about it -- some even want to convert to it as well. All within a span of the 70 years since it's been brought about. I'd say that they "do" plenty of things.

As for the race thing, yes, at first it was Afrocentric....But the main message behind that was one of anti-conformity, with a biblical take on the whole thing. Race was just the immediate issue at the time of it's founding, but anti-conformity is where it's spirit is: And that's an idea that appeals to many people --- Not just blacks (duh).

Also, being passionate and laid back is a possibility. Ever heard of Gandhi? Martin Luther King? "Non-Violent Resistance"? Saying "No" is about the most powerful thing you can "do".

Anyways, go on and make fun of people for having things worth saying "No" against. Enjoy the comfort. As for Sinead, she's just a chick who was tired of how women are viewed (so she shaved her head), tired of the abuse, molestation, and injustice she'd seen from her own Catholic upbringing (so she ripped up a picture of the Pope), tired of how women had been segregated to lesser positions in the church (so she joined a Catholic sect to become a priest herself), and generally, just tired of convincing these people that they needed to change (so she packed up and became a Rasta instead).

[Paelos]

Heh, I have smoked a joint before. Many times actually. And the only thing it does is make you giggle and get really hungry. That and your hands feel like they are moving though water that isn't there.

It also makes you look like an idiot to anyone that isn't smoking, seeing as I've been on both sides. It doesn't make you fucking Ghandi. Nice try.

Have you ever actually been to Jamaica? Look at it one day if you haven't. Outiside the resorts, it's a shithole. And a dangerous shithole at that. You wanna play the get out more card? Again, I would wager my travel experience against yours any day of the week and twice on Sundays. Just because I'm a Christian doesn't mean I'm a sheltered moron. And just because O'Conner decided to convert doesn't make her anything but a musician with too much exposure.

[CmdrSlack]

Look, O'Conner becoming a Rasta makes as much sense as Al Sharpton joining the Klan. That's pretty much the end of sanity.

Rastas hate whitey?

Heh. I think he's gotten his impression of Rastas from "Tommy Boy" or something.

Nope, this man would probably define Rasta as it is today:

Have fun, and go to the Bob Marley fest when it comes to your town. You'll meet plenty of cool people there (though to be fair, he actually converted to Coptic/Orthodox before he died).

Nope, it's my hate of the "put your text in green" sarcasm tags.

But thanks for being indirect AND condescending.  WTG for you, hero!

EDIT - Ah, fuck it, there's a good "die in a * fire" joke to be made, but I'm lost for the right one. 

[schild]

Where there's a rebel, there's a Stray way.

[stray]

Heh, I have smoked a joint before. Many times actually. And the only thing it does is make you giggle and get really hungry. That and your hands feel like they are moving though water that isn't there.

It also makes you look like an idiot to anyone that isn't smoking, seeing as I've been on both sides. It doesn't make you fucking Ghandi. Nice try.

Have you ever actually been to Jamaica? Look at it one day if you haven't. Outiside the resorts, it's a shithole. And a dangerous shithole at that. You wanna play the get out more card? Again, I would wager my travel experience against yours any day of the week and twice on Sundays. Just because I'm a Christian doesn't mean I'm a sheltered moron. And just because O'Conner decided to convert doesn't make her anything but a musician with too much exposure.

I'm a Christian too, dude (and for your own sanity: No, I don't smoke weed any longer. Not that it matters...). "Christian" is beside the point. "Christian" doesn't entail "sheltered" (it's too broad a term for me to say that. Heck, even the subject of this conversation, Rastas, consider themselves "Christian"). It's just that you come off as very smug bourgeois (I figured that word may piss people off  ) with regard to other cultures (this isn't the only thread either), and in turn, just a little too quick to judge things different than you ("Lukewarm Christian" and nice guy that you may be).

No, smoking weed doesn't make you Gandhi: What it does is make you chill out a bit. Which is all I'm suggesting. If not weed, find a way....Because once you hit the afterlife, you're going to be in unlikeable company it seems.

"Get out more" has nothing to do with traveling either (which it'd be very unlikely that you'd win anyways: Hawaiian born military brat son of Thai/Cambodian and second generation Danish/Norwegian immigrants; have been to parts of Eastern/Western Europe; Southeast Asia and Japan; Mexico/Canada/Carribean; and something like 30 states). "Get out more" is just about stepping out of your box a little and seeing that not everyone is insane because they don't live like you (whatever "you" may be).