Christafari is a Christian Reggae band formed in 1990 that is centered around the personality of ordained minister Mark "Tansoback" Mohr (born October 23, 1971), an American born-again Christian who professes that he was once a Rastafarian. The essential goal of Christafari is to convert Rastafarians to Christianity. He claims that he embraced the Rasta faith mostly because it sactioned the use of marijuana, though he also admits to smoking "anything he could get his hands on", including crack, strictly prohibited in Rastafari culture. While living as a Rastafarian he became well-versed in reggae music and Jamaican Patois, the language of most reggae music. In 1989 the seventeen year old Mohr decided to turn away from his Rastafarian beliefs, stopped using marijuana and committed his life to Christianity at a Church summer camp.

Music

Christafari's music is characterized by a distinctly evangelical message. Its

Criticisms

Christafari have been criticised by both Christians and Rastafarians.

Rastafarians find it offensive that Christafari take (or steal, according to some) the symbols of the Rastafarian culture in order to attack the divinity of their God Selassie I, and instead use that culture to promote in a missionary way what many Rastas see as the "white" Jesus that Rastafarians were rebelling against in the first place. With his dreadlocks Mohr and other Christafarians have been called "wolves in sheep's clothing". Christafari's claim to be counter cult implies that Rastafari is a cult, their call to a wayward generation implies that the Rastas are wayward or a lost generation while their claim to evangelize the word of God to Rastas implies that Rastas don't have the word of God. They

Christians find it offensive that Mohr wears dreadlocks and sings in a style typically associated with sex and drugs. They have also criticised Mohr over the name of the group and the use of the word "Jah" in songs to refer to the Judeo-Christian God. The band has previously defended the use of the word with the argument that "Jah" is a shortening for "Yahweh" (also spelled "Jahweh") used in the Bible in some places. However, as of the release of Gravity, they have discontinued this practice, partly because of the constant need to explain it. The name "Christafari", according to the band's website, is not a portmanteau of "Christian" and "Rastafari", but is actually derived from Greek words translating as "Those who have seen Christ". Yet the influence of Christafari has been much greater in the Christian community, with Christians becoming more Rastafarian like, than in the Rastafarian community, which for the most part ignore Christafari.

In October 2004, Reggae Artist Messian Dread published an e-book with the title: "CHRISTAFARIANISM: Don't Be A Rasta, Be Like A Rasta". In the book, Christafari was criticized for portraying Rastafari as anti-Christian. Christafari in its turn criticized Messian Dread for smoking marijuana and "blending Rastafari and Christianity", even though Rastafari encourages the use of cannabis and is faith with very definite Christian roots.

Members

Christafari has played with over 60 musicians over its 14 year career. Thus it is difficult to construct a complete list of current and former members.

• Mark Mohr - founder, vocals
• Erik "Earth Man" Sundin - left after Valley of Decision to form his own Christian Reggae band "Temple Yard".
• Vanessa Mohr - Mark's wife
• Marky "Rage" Sandiford
• Ken "Mr. Mention" Yarnes
• Bill "Painta-man" Kasper
• Johnny "Spragga Boom" Guerrero

Discography

Major Releases

• Soulfire (1995)
• Valley of Decision (1996)
• Word, Sound, and Power (1999)
• Gravity (2003)

Other Releases

• Reggae Worship: First Fruits (1999) - a compilation of earlier recordings.
• Dub, Sound, and Power (2000) - a collection of Dub versions of songs, mostly from Word, Sound, and Power.
• Palabra, Sonido, Y Poder (2000) - versions of their songs overdubbed in Spanish.

Christafari