Guys! Do you know about the Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church in the US?

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By Anko Zuta, Blogger of De Birhan Blogspot

3-7-2011

These people are NOT Rastafrains. They are NOT also Ethiopian Orthodox Christians. But they were/are mainly white Americans and Jamaicans.

Just found out about them today.The following info comes from a Wikipedia content about the Church.

The Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church is a mansion of Rastafari movement which flourished in the 1970s in Jamaica and was incorporated in Florida in 1975. Members of movement say it is based on the teachings of Marcus Garvey and that they use cannabis as the Rastafari sacrament.

The group was accused, tried and convicted of smuggling massive amounts of potent cannabis from Jamaica to Miami in actions that kept the Jamaican economy afloat that decade. The Prime Minister at the time Edward Seaga, when he came to the U.S. said in an interview “It’s just a little Sensimilla that it keep the country going right now”. That was the Coptics. The Coptics published a free newspaper promoting Garveyism and the decriminalization of marijuana. They were also featured on a sensational episode of 60 Minutes on October 28, 1979. The group’s leader was Thomas Reilly, also known as Brother Louv. In 1986 the organization participated in the Drug Enforcement Administration‘s hearings on cannabis rescheduling in the United States.

On August 8, 1994 Jim Tranmer, a former member of the group, wrote a letter to Carl E. Olsen while meditating on his 35-year prison sentence and his departure from the EZCC’s “malicious hierarchy”.

The EZCC is in no way associated with the Coptic Orthodox Church or the Coptic Catholic Church, both based in Egypt. The Coptic Orthodox Church also has an Ethiopian sister church which is also unrelated.The follwoing is the Church’s web:

http://www.ethiopianzioncopticchurch.org/Default.aspx

In 1975, needing an “embassy” in the United States, the Church bought a mansion on Miami’s exclusive Star Island. Initially, the Church received recognition as a legitimate religious organization by the government. But as the media caught wind of the group and their rather unorthodox religious ceremonies, things started to change. Ultimately, a 1979 60 Minutes piece featuring footage of young children puffing large “spliffs” of marijuana caused public outrage and compelled the government to finally put an end to the Coptics . Soon after, many Church members were indicted and eventually convicted of smuggling large quantities of marijuana,Square Grouper reported.
The following video report by CBS in 1979 tells it all. Enjoy watching it, in the future I will study the group more and give an analytical assessment.

Watch CBS News Videos Online

1 COMMENT

  1. ….LOL… the 60’s FINDATAWOCH they will give u any excuse to have puff … I wonder how they feel now when they are grey n old…thanking u for sharing it…blessed with 5*bat

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