Frequently Asked Questions

Dreads

Question:

I noticed that some of you have dreads. I was thinking about starting to dread up my hair. Do you have any insight?

Answer:

To dread or not to dread? That is the Question. As for dreads, this is a sensitive subject for many parties involved. First there is the Caribbean Christian Church that always associates dreads with being a "Rasta" thing. Wherever I go in the Caribbean and walk on the streets people call me "Rasta". It is no different in the Church. In many Churches you cannot be saved or are in extreme disobedience if you have long hair even more so if your hair is in locks.

Then there is the Rasta community that has been known to call a dreadlock Christian a "wolf in sheep?s clothing." For Rastas, dreads are a key symbol of their identity and their faith. In the past, Rastas would consider anyone that is not a dread a "crazy baldhead," (taken from the Words of Bob Marley). Although more recently, with some Rastas climbing up the corporate ladder, trimming their locks and with the insurgence of the dominating dancehall culture in reggae music that is primarily "Baldhead", more and more individuals are claiming faith in Selassie without locking up their hair. To testify to this fact is the major reggae hit song in the 1999 by Morgan Heritage that states; "You don't haffi dread to be Rasta".

For decades this hair style has been associated with Rastafari. But it did not originate in Jamaica as a protest to Babylonian culture. As I state in an answer to another question regarding dreads in this section, I honestly believe that dreads are found in the Bible--in both the Old and New Testament. Dreads have most likely been commonplace in Africa since the creation of man. For centuries dreads have been worn in India. In Jamaica, before slaves were brought from Africa to work they were taken from India. There is no doubt that these Indians were the first ones to bring dreads, Marijuana and the curry seasoning to the island.

So what to do? Should we dread or not? I think that this is a question that each person should ask for themselves. In seeking the Lord and listening to their hearts they will find the answer.

If you have just come out of Rastafari and feel that you need to trim them because they remind you of your past then you should cut them off. Some people who have been growing their hair for Selassie for so many years feel that they need to shave them off because they are a reminder of their former faith.

I know that Judy Mowatt kept her dreads for years after her conversion but recently trimmed them off. Perhaps she succumbed to the pressure of the church, or maybe she just wanted a change. I would liken this to the issue that Paul was facing with the Church of Corinth regarding food sacrificed to idols. Given their past, certain Christians had major problems with eating food sacrificed to idols. Meanwhile other church members had no problem at all with eating this meat. They knew "that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one" (I Cor 8:4b) Regarding this matter Paul wrote:

"But not everyone knows this. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat such food they think of it as having been sacrificed to an idol, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. (I Corinthians 8:7)

If you think having dreads is wrong or are going to seriously stumble a brother than you probably shouldn't wear them.

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