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The Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church is a religious movement that originated in Jamaica during the 1940s[1] and later spread to the United States, being incorporated in Florida in 1975.[2] Its beliefs are based on both the Old and New testaments of the bible, as well as the teachings of Marcus Garvey, self-reliance, Afrocentricity and Ethiopianism. Their ceremonies include bible reading, chanting, and music incorporating elements from Nyahbinghi, Burru, Kumina[3] and other indigenous traditions. The group holds many beliefs in common with the Rastafari, including the use of marijuana as a sacrament, but differ on many points, most significantly the matter of Haile Selassie's divinity.[4]
 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (January 2017) |
The group expanded rapidly in the 1970s, under the leadership of 'Niah' Keith Gordon, attracting a new generation of white American followers to their "Gospel camp" in Jamaica.[5] The Coptic's pro-marijuana beliefs went as far as to consider distribution of the "sacrament" a righteous endeavour[6]: 125 and — assisted by the new arrivals — the group began to move ever-larger consignments of it from Jamaica to the United States.[6]: 122 These efforts enabled the Coptics to acquire significant land holdings in Jamaica,[7] as well as a luxurious 'embassy' in Miami.[5] They ran many farms, several businesses and provided badly-needed employment during Jamaica's turbulent 1970s.[7]
The group attracted widespread publicity in the early 1980s, when several of its members were prosecuted for importing marijuana to the United States.[8][9][10] The movement continues to this day, but went into decline when a large number of the American members were incarcerated in the 1980s,[11] followed by the death of Keith Gordon in 1986.[12]
Despite its name, the group is in no way affiliated with the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church or any other established Christian congregation.[13]
Early history under Louva Williams
The Coptic mansion emerged out of Jamaican chapters of the Ethiopian World Federation during the late 1940s. It was founded by Lovell Williams, known as Brother Louv, who first laid out the key doctrines of the group.[14] Brother Louv established the first headquarters at Mountain View Avenue[1] on the eastern side of Kingston at the foot of the Wareika Hills. It was one of many Rasta camps to the east of Kingston, including Count Ossie's, which had a different character from those in the west of the city.[15] These were typically squatter camps, set up on 'captured' government lands.[16] Brother Louv engaged in many 'reasonings' (discussions) during this time, both within the group and outside,[1] which were often accompanied by ganja smoking.[5]
The group continued with a small, dedicated group of followers throughout the 1950s and 60s, living a simple life in accordance with their strict beliefs. While it was an offshoot of the broader Rasta movement, many Coptic teachings conflicted with 'mainstream' Rasta belief, and neither side considered the other to be one and the same.
Later growth in United States
It first established its organization in the United States in Star Island, Florida with a commune of around 40 members. The commune follows a combination of teachings from the Bible, Old and New Testament, which have been compared to Billy Graham's fundamentalism, and Kosher law.[17] Similar to the Rastafari Movement, the Coptic's views are based on the teachings of Marcus Garvey and they use cannabis as sacrament.[18] It is a misconception that pious Rastafarians smoke marijuana recreationally, and some (in particular, the canonical Ethiopian Orthodox and classical Elders) do not use it at all. However, many Rastafarian teachers have advocated for controlled ritual smoking of 'wisdom weed' in private as a meditation tool and communally from 'chalice' pipes as an 'incense to please the Lord.'[19]
In 1979 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 then-Jamaican Prime Minister Edward Seaga told a U.S. interview "It's just a little sinsemilla that it keep the country going right now". The Coptics published a free newspaper promoting Garveyism and the decriminalization of marijuana titled "Coptic Times". They also appeared on 60 Minutes on October 28, 1979. The group's leader was Niah Keith Gordon, and its spokesman in the US was Thomas Reilly, also known as Brother Louv. During the same year, The Supreme Court of Florida found: "(1) the Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church represents a religion within the first amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and (2) the "use of cannabis is an essential portion of the religious practice."[20] "Further, the Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church is not a new church or religion but the record reflects it is centuries old and has regularly used cannabis as its sacrament".[20]
In 1986 the organization participated in the Drug Enforcement Administration's hearings on cannabis rescheduling in the United States.
On January 19, 2017[21] James Tranmer, a member of the group, was pardoned and released from prison by Barack Obama before he left the office of the President of the United States. Tramner had received a 33 year prison sentence for possession of cannabis because he defended the sacramentality and goodness of cannabis without repentance. Today many are grateful for his sacrifice and his release is an acknowledgement in the paradigm change that has taken place since the majority of the population now see that to fight against a medicinal plant is a detrimental social policy.
Carl Olsen ran for governor in Iowa, as a Libertarian, in 1994 and for the U.S. House of Representatives, again as a Libertarian, in 1996. He is currently a priest in the Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church, and resides in Iowa.
The EZCC is not associated with either the Coptic Orthodox Church or the Coptic Catholic Church, both based in Egypt. The Coptic Orthodox Church has an Ethiopian sister church, which is also unrelated. The Garveyite Coptic were most closely tied to the African Orthodox Church than to Egypt. The EZCC gets its namesake from a 1959 mission to Ethiopia in which the archbishop brought a group of young Ethiopian priests and deacons to study in American universities. However, the clergy cut ties with the Garveyite Coptic organization in New York and set up its own parishes that addressed the needs of Ethiopian immigrants.[19]
The Zion Coptic Church appeared in the 2011 Billy Corben documentary Square Grouper: The Godfathers of Ganja, whose first section concerns the group and features interviews with former members. In Brazil there are the First Niubingui Church Etiope Coptic of Zion of Brasil.
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