_____A
semi-moribund Garveyite Orthodox denomination, was revitalized by white
hippie converts in the '60s; despite its partly foreign leadership, it enjoyed
explosive growth among Black Jamaicans disillusioned with the canonical
church's approach. Although the "Coptics", as they are called,
insist that they are a legitimate Orthodox jurisdiction and even publish
tracts on such theological issues as the _mia physis_ and the Council of
Chalcedon, they also engage in some very questionable speculations verging
on Gnosticism. To their credit, they have gone much further than the canonical
church in incorporating the best of classical Rastafrian culture into church
life, and their retention of dreadlocks, nyabinghi drumming, etc. has helped
them gain many converts. This success is reflected in their great material
wealth, for which they have been criticized (they are supposedly among the
largest landholders in Jamaica). One aspect of their "reverse syncretism"
has caused much controversy, as well as a landmark church-state case which
landed the Coptics' leadership in prison: their gnosticizing theories are
used to justify ritual consumption of marijuana.
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