Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church

Last updated

The Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church is a religious movement that originated in Jamaica during the 1940s [1] and later spread to the United States, being incorporated in Florida in 1975. [2] Its beliefs are based on both the Old and New testaments of the bible, as well as the teachings of Marcus Garvey, self-reliance, Afrocentricity and Ethiopianism. Their ceremonies include bible reading, chanting, and music incorporating elements from Nyahbinghi, Burru, Kumina [3] and other indigenous traditions. The group holds many beliefs in common with the Rastafari, including the use of marijuana as a sacrament, but differ on many points, most significantly the matter of Haile Selassie's divinity. [4]

Contents

The group expanded rapidly in the 1970s, under the leadership of 'Niah' Keith Gordon, attracting a new generation of white American followers to their "Gospel camp" in Jamaica. [5] The Coptic's pro-marijuana beliefs went as far as to consider distribution of the "herb" a righteous endevour [6] : 125  and — assisted by the new arrivals — the group began to move ever-larger consignments of it from Jamaica to the United States. [6] : 122  These efforts enabled the Coptics to acquire significant land holdings in Jamaica, [7] as well as a luxurious 'embassy' in Miami. [5] They ran many farms, several businesses and provided badly-needed employment during Jamaica's turbulent 1970s. [7]

The group attracted widespread publicity in the early 1980s, when several of its members were prosecuted for importing marijuana to the United States. [8] [9] [10] The movement continues to this day, but went into decline when a large number of the American members were incarcerated in the 1980s, [11] followed by the death of Keith Gordon in 1986. [12]

Despite its name, the group is in no way affiliated with the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church or any other established Christian congregation. [13]

History

Early history under Louva Williams

The Coptic mansion emerged out of Jamaican chapters of the Ethiopian World Federation during the late 1940s. It was founded by Lovell Williams, known as Brother Louv, who first laid out the key doctrines of the group. [14] Brother Louv established the first headquarters at Mountain View Avenue [1] on the eastern side of Kingston at the foot of the Wareika Hills. It was one of many Rasta camps to the east of Kingston, including Count Ossie's, which had a different character from those in the west of the city. [15] These were typically squatter camps, set up on 'captured' government lands. [16] Brother Louv engaged in many 'reasonings' (discussions) during this time, both within the group and outside, [1] which were often accompanied by ganja smoking. [5]

The group continued with a small, dedicated group of followers throughout the 1950s and 60s, living a simple life in accordance with their strict beliefs. While it was an offshoot of the broader Rasta movement, many Coptic teachings conflicted with 'mainstream' Rasta belief, and neither side considered the other to be one and the same.

Later growth in United States

It first established its organization in the United States in Star Island, Florida with a commune of around 40 members. The commune follows a combination of teachings from the Bible, Old and New Testament, which have been compared to Billy Graham's fundamentalism, and Kosher law. [17] Similar to the Rastafari Movement, the Coptic's views are based on the teachings of Marcus Garvey and they use cannabis as sacrament. [18] It is a misconception that pious Rastafarians smoke marijuana recreationally, and some (in particular, the canonical Ethiopian Orthodox and classical Elders) do not use it at all. However, many Rastafarian teachers have advocated for controlled ritual smoking of 'wisdom weed' in private as a meditation tool and communally from 'chalice' pipes as an 'incense to please the Lord.' [19]

In 1979 the group was accused, tried, and convicted of smuggling massive amounts of potent cannabis from Jamaica to Miami in actions that kept the Jamaican economy afloat that decade. The then-Jamaican Prime Minister Edward Seaga told a U.S. interview "It's just a little sinsemilla that it keep the country going right now". The Coptics published a free newspaper promoting Garveyism and the decriminalization of marijuana titled "Coptic Times". They also appeared on 60 Minutes on October 28, 1979. The group's leader was Niah Keith Gordon, and its spokesman in the US was Thomas Reilly, also known as Brother Louv. During the same year, The Supreme Court of Florida found: "(1) the Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church represents a religion within the first amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and (2) the "use of cannabis is an essential portion of the religious practice." [20] "Further, the Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church is not a new church or religion but the record reflects it is centuries old and has regularly used cannabis as its sacrament". [20]

In 1986 the organization participated in the Drug Enforcement Administration's hearings on cannabis rescheduling in the United States.

On January 19, 2017 [21] James Tranmer, a member of the group, was pardoned and released from prison by Barack Obama before he left the office of the President of the United States. Tramner had received a 33 year prison sentence for possession of cannabis because he defended the sacramentality and goodness of cannabis without repentance. Today many are grateful for his sacrifice and his release is an acknowledgement in the paradigm change that has taken place since the majority of the population now see that to fight against a medicinal plant is a detrimental social policy.

Carl Olsen ran for governor in Iowa, as a Libertarian, in 1994 and for the U.S. House of Representatives, again as a Libertarian, in 1996. He is currently a priest in the Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church, and resides in Iowa.

The EZCC is not associated with either the Coptic Orthodox Church or the Coptic Catholic Church, both based in Egypt. The Coptic Orthodox Church has an Ethiopian sister church, which is also unrelated. The Garveyite Coptic were most closely tied to the African Orthodox Church than to Egypt. The EZCC gets its namesake from a 1959 mission to Ethiopia in which the archbishop brought a group of young Ethiopian priests and deacons to study in American universities. However, the clergy cut ties with the Garveyite Coptic organization in New York and set up its own parishes that addressed the needs of Ethiopian immigrants. [19]

The Zion Coptic Church appeared in the 2011 Billy Corben documentary Square Grouper: The Godfathers of Ganja , whose first section concerns the group and features interviews with former members. In Brazil there are the First Niubingui Church Etiope Coptic of Zion of Brasil.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rastafari</span> Religion originating in 1930s Jamaica

Rastafari, sometimes called Rastafarianism, is an Abrahamic religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by scholars of religion. There is no central authority in control of the movement and much diversity exists among practitioners, who are known as Rastafari, Rastafarians, or Rastas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ital</span> Food celebrated in the Rastafari movement

Ital, also spelled I-tal, is food often celebrated by those in the Rastafari movement. It is compulsory in the Bobo Ashanti and Nyabinghi mansions, though not in the Twelve Tribes of Israel. The word derives from the English word "vital", with the initial "v" removed. This emphasis on the letter "I" is done to many words in the Rastafari vocabulary to signify the unity of the speaker with God and all of nature. The expression of Ital eating varies widely from Rasta to Rasta, and there are few universal rules of Ital living.

The title of Bobo Ashanti essentially means "Black warrior".The Bobo Ashanti, also known as the Ethiopian African Black International Congress (E.A.B.I.C), is a religious group originating in Bull Bay near Kingston, Jamaica.

Kumina is an Afro-Jamaican religion. Kumina has practices that include secular ceremonies, dance and music that developed from the beliefs and traditions brought to the island by Kongo enslaved people and indentured labourers, from the Congo region of West Central Africa, during the post-emancipation era. It is mostly associated with the parish of St. Thomas in the east of the island. However, the practice spread to the parishes of Portland, St. Mary and St. Catherine, and the city of Kingston.

Leonard Percival Howell, also known as The Gong or G. G. Maragh, was a Jamaican religious figure. According to his biographer Hélène Lee, Howell was born into an Anglican family. He was one of the first preachers of the Rastafari movement, and is known by many as The First Rasta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shashamane</span> City in Oromia Region, Ethiopia

Shashamane is a city in southern Ethiopia. Located in the Oromia Region with a 2007 Census population of 100,454, but with an estimated 208,368 inhabitants in mid 2022; the town is known for its Rastafarian community. A couple of years ago, the current town administration made a determined move to speed up the development of the town and answer the questions of the residents and is one of the fast urbanizing urban centers in Oromia Regional State and has seventeen (17) sub-cities. Namely Abosto, Alelu, Arada, Awasho, Dida boqe, Bulchana, Burqa Gudina, Kuyera, Awasho Dhenqu, Aleche Harebate, Edola burqa, Alelu Ilu, Bute filicha, Kerara filicha, Ilala Qorke, Meja Dema, and Bulchana Deneba. The resort of Wondo Genet lies near Shashamane, as does the Senkele Wildlife Sanctuary.

Mortimo St George "Kumi" Planno, was a renowned Rastafari elder, drummer and a follower of the back-to-Africa movement founded in the 1910s by Marcus Garvey. He is best known as the Rasta teacher and friend of Bob Marley, and as the man who commanded the respect of a chaotic crowd during the arrival of Emperor Haile Selassie on his visit to Jamaica in 1966. He is referred to by other Rastas as a teacher and a leader within the context of the faith, given his life's work.

Iyaric, also called Dread Talk, is a language consciously created by members of the Rastafari movement. When Africans were taken into captivity as a part of the slave trade, English was imposed as a colonial language and their traditional African languages were lost. In defiance, the Rastafari movement created a modified English vocabulary and dialect, with the aim of liberating their language from its history as a tool of colonial oppression. This is accomplished by avoiding sounds and words with negative connotations, such as "back", and changing them to positive ones. Iyaric sometimes also plays a liturgical role among Rastas, in addition to Amharic and Ge'ez.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mansions of Rastafari</span> Various groups of the Rastafari movement

Mansions of Rastafari is an umbrella term for the various groups of the Rastafari movement. Such groups include the Bobo Ashanti, the Niyabinghi, the Twelve Tribes of Israel, and several smaller groups, including African Unity, Covenant Rastafari, Messianic Dreads, SeeGold Empire, and the Selassian Church. The term is taken from the Biblical verse in John 14:2, "In my Father's house are many mansions."

Grounation Day is an important Rastafari holy day, second only to Coronation Day. It is celebrated in honour of Haile Selassie's 1966 visit to Jamaica.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Count Ossie</span> Jamaican Rastafari drummer and band leader

Count Ossie, born Oswald Williams, was a Jamaican Rastafari drummer and band leader.

The Rastafari movement in the United States echoes the Rastafari religious movement, which began in Jamaica and Ethiopia during the 1930s. Marcus Garvey, born in Jamaica, was influenced by the Ethiopian king Haile Selassie. Jamaican Rastafaris began emigrating to the United States in the 1960s and 1970s, and established communities throughout the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chalice (pipe)</span> Type of cannabis smoking pipe

A chalice, also known as a wisdom chalice or chillum chalice, is a type of cannabis smoking pipe used most often by members of the Jamaican Rastafari movement. It is a type of water pipe used for smoking.

Persecution of members of the Rastafari movement, an Abrahamic religion founded in Jamaica in the early 1930s among Afro-Jamaican communities, has been fairly continuous since the movement began but nowadays is particularly concerning their spiritual use of cannabis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bedwardism</span> Afro-Jamaican Christian religion

Bedwardism, more properly the Jamaica Native Baptist Free Church, was a religious movement of Jamaica.

Joseph Nathaniel Hibbert was, along with Leonard Howell, Archibald Dunkley, and Robert Hinds, one of the first preachers of the Rastafari movement in Jamaica following the coronation of Ras Tafari as Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia on 2 November 1930.

Abuna Yesehaq, was a leader of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church in the Western hemisphere.

<i>Square Grouper: The Godfathers of Ganja</i> 2011 film by director Billy Corben

Square Grouper: The Godfathers of Ganja is a 2011 documentary by director Billy Corben and produced by Alfred Spellman and Billy Corben through their Miami-based media studio Rakontur. The term square grouper was a nickname given to bales of marijuana thrown overboard or out of airplanes in South Florida in the 1970s and 1980s.

Nyabinghi, also Nyahbinghi, Niyabinghi, Niyahbinghi, is the gathering of Rastafari people to celebrate and commemorate key dates significant to Rastafari throughout the year. It is essentially an opportunity for the Rastafari to congregate and engage in praise and worship. For example, on July 23 of each year, a Nyabinghi is held to celebrate the birth of Emperor Haille Selassie I. During a Nyabinghi celebration men and women have different roles and expectations. Men are expected to remove any hair coverings, whilst women must keep their hair covered. A group of men typically organise themselves in a line or semi-circle and are assigned to beat the drums throughout. The remaining congregation continue to sing well known songs or 'chants', some of which are Hebraic scriptural verses that evidence the divinity of Haile Sellassie. For example, 'I have a little light in I and I'm going to make it shine, Rastafariiii, shine' and 'Holy Mount Zion is a holy place and no sinners can enter there, so let the words of my mouth and the mediation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, of Rastafari'. Nyabinghi is a Rastafari tradition that promotes Rastafari unity, strengthens the Rastafari spirit with fellowship and raises the consciousness and presence of Rastafafari in the heart of those in attendance. At some points passages of the bible are read. Rastafari recognise the significance of Jesus Christ, due to Haile Sellassie I fulfilling the teachings and prophecy of scripture.

The Rastafari movement developed out of the legacy of the Atlantic slave trade, in which over ten million Africans were enslaved and transported to the Americas between the 16th and 19th centuries. Once there, they were sold to European planters and forced to work on the plantations. Around a third of these transported Africans were relocated in the Caribbean, with under 700,000 being settled in Jamaica. In 1834, slavery in Jamaica was abolished after the British government passed the Slavery Abolition Act 1833. Racial prejudice nevertheless remained prevalent across Jamaican society. The overwhelming majority of Jamaica's legislative council was white throughout the 19th century, and those of African descent were treated as second-class citizens.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Barnett, Michael (2017). "Chapter 3 - The different mansions of the Rastafari movement". The Rastafari Movement: A North American and Caribbean Perspective. ISBN   1-138-68215-2.
  2. ↑ "United States Tax Court Memo 1989-593". Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church. Archived from the original on January 12, 2024. On April 15, 1975, ZCC was incorporated in the State of Florida
  3. ↑ "Salvation Story" (video). Patrick White.
  4. ↑ Barrett, Leonard E. (1998). The Rastafarians. Boston: Beacon Press. p. 239. ISBN   978-0-8070-1039-6. By 1976 the church had adopted Rastafarian-like beliefs without accepting the divinity of Haile Selassie
  5. 1 2 3 Hiaasen, Carl (August 2, 1981). "The Law and Brother Louv". Miami Herald. Archived from the original on January 13, 2024.
  6. 1 2 Middleton, Clifton Ray (January 2, 2021). Ganja Warrior Priest: Genesis. ASIN   B08RY4X1CY.
  7. 1 2 Williams, Lloyd (April 26, 1981). "The Coptics - a country within Jamaica". The Sunday Gleaner. p. 8. Archived from the original on Mar 28, 2024.
  8. ↑ "Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church Members Arrive to Court (September 8, 1980)" (video). youtube.com. September 8, 1980.
  9. ↑ "News reports on EZCC" (video). youtube.com.
  10. ↑ Dickey, Christopher (November 10, 1980). "Offbeat Church, Outgrowth of Marijuana Trade, Prospers on Island". Washington Post. Archived from the original on January 15, 2024.
  11. ↑ "Nine members of the Jamaica-based Ethiopian Zion Coptic church were convicted by a federal jury". United Press International. June 19, 1981. Archived from the original on January 15, 2024.
  12. ↑ "Woman, son stabbed dead". The Daily Gleaner. Jamaica. September 20, 1998. p. 1. Keith 'Nyah' Gordon, the leader of the Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church who died around two years ago.
  13. ↑ Akladios, Michael (October 11, 2020). "Holy Smoke: Egypt's Copts Discover the Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church". Egypt Migrations. Archived from the original on March 29, 2024.
  14. ↑ Barnett, Michael (June 1, 2005). "The many faces of Rasta: Doctrinal Diversity within the Rastafari Movement". Caribbean Quarterly. 51 (2). doi:10.1080/00086495.2005.11672267.
  15. ↑ Lee, Hélène (2004). "28 Count Ossie". The First Rasta: Leonard Howell and the Rise of Rastafarianism. p. 248. ISBN   978-1-55652-558-2. Up until this point, Wareika and Rockfort had been the towns of the free thinkers among the Rastas. According to Verona Reckord, the movement's "Big Three" were Count Ossie, his saxophonist friend Big Bra Gaynair, and Bro Filmore Alvaranga (today the patriarch of the Mystic Revelation of Rastafari). To those must be added Brother Love, a Rasta elder who used to preach in Mountain View on the western slope of the Wareika Hills.
  16. ↑ Wells, Walter W. "Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church, History in this Present Generation". Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church. Archived from the original on January 12, 2024. most of our Camp sites were on captured government lands. We were in those times called squatters by our religious and political oppressors and society as a whole.
  17. ↑ "Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church, CBS News - 60 Minutes, Volume XII, Number 7, Oct. 28, 1979" . Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  18. ↑ Marijuana and the Bible
  19. 1 2 Hugh Redington, Norman (1994). "Rastafarians and Orthodoxy" (PDF). Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  20. 1 2 "Town v. State, 377 So.2d 648 (Fla. 1979)". November 1, 1979. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  21. ↑ "Commutations Granted by President Barack H. Obama (2009-2017)". 12 January 2015. Retrieved 19 January 2022.


Cannabis leaf 2.svg

This Cannabis-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.