“The Gospel According to Babylon”: The Rastafarian Challenge to Eurocentric Theological Discourse in the Caribbean

Abstract

This chapter maps the trajectory of one of Jamaica’s striking engagements with Europeanized Christianity and its discursive practices: the religion of Rastafari and its ‘Gospel According to Babylon’. Not the most arresting of my questions was: what were the factors that led to changes in social structures, culture, and identity among the Afro Caribbean Rastafari? Chaperon—like accompanied by—why does this happen? The islands of the Caribbean, and in particular those of the Anglophone West Indies, suggested a delectable spread of answers to the question that most captured my attention: How do a people in a colonial outpost and a post-colonial nation-state deal with a dominant religious discourse such as White Christian theology? Followed by: What identities are produced by such an interface, and what spaces do these identities inhabit in the Caribbean?