“Selassie Is the Chaplain”: Contextualising Rastafari Chaplaincy Provision in the British Armed Forces

For the first time, the British Army is looking to appoint a Rastafari chaplain to serve within its ranks and to support the disproportionately large number of Rastafari within the British Armed Forces. This is a commendable step which not only represents specific spiritual provision for a large minority faith group, but also represents an act of enormous epistemological significance for a group violently and openly persecuted by the British military and security forces since its emergence in 1930s Jamaica. This paper seeks to contextualise these, offering the view that the pivotal nature of this appointment necessitates dialogue and an informed evidence base.