I am a brahmin by birth. I had a fairly orthodox upbringing with only one failing. I was not trained from childhood to be a priest, the greatest calling of brahmins. Had that happened, I wouldn't probably be writing this piece of sacrilege. I would've been carrying out my sacred duty assigned to me by design or accident, I know not. A duty that brahmins are brainwashed into not questioning;a duty that they in turn brainwash others not to question. A part of an insiduous (in my opinion) plot that holds mankind so firmly, that I wonder whether we will ever break free of it.
Perhaps I should elaborate. Let us consider priests in general and then see if the discussion applies to brahmins too.
Priests play a vital in role in perpetuating faith (dictionary.reference.com: “2. belief that is not based on proof”) in general; and faith in God in particular. Thus priests are responsible to hold intact, the very foundations of religion. We can consider this role of the priests, even without discussing the principles of God / the super natural /(and) the merits of various religions.
It is conceivable that without active priesthood, the hold of religion(s) on the masses would've eroded over centuries. It appears that our ancestors have foreseen this and created the priests as a brilliant counter. Firstly, a section of the population has been identified with a clear role. Worship God, assist others in worshipping God. In short, perpetuate faith and encourage attributes in people that allow faith and unquestioning obedience. In management parlance, an organization structure has been created and adequate people resources have been assigned.
Secondly, link the very survival of the priests depends on their success (in perpetuating faith). So priests by design have no other livelihood. From childhood, they are trained only in activities and studies related to faith. So, very few of them have any recourse to alternate professions. Almost all their income comes from their faith-related duties. If faith erodes, they die. For their very survival, they must now devote all their collective intellect to their assigned duty-cum-livelihood. So a very strong incentive structure linked to their performance is created.
Thirdly, build temples, churches, mosques. A base of operations of sorts. Ensure sufficient interest and activity at the bases by creating other dependencies through charitable and apparently charitable (e.g., special prayers to invoke rains) activities. Create institutionalized mechanisms that support the infrastructure and the priests (donations, free food for the poor schemes, prayers that ought to be performed at homes for a very wide variety of benefical reasons, etc.). Good. The infrastructure and a self-sustaining institutional mechanism (dare we call it a business model?) is now in place.
Finally, ah.... the risk mitigation plan. What happens if for some reason we have too many priests? Or if education encourages people to question faith? Here, let me focus on brahmins in particular. Early brahmins were encouraged to take up key intellectual positions. For long, brahmins controlled the monopoly of education (even until two generations ago, a majority of the teachers were all brahmins; perhaps they still are) and advisory services. They served (and still serve) as gurus, diwans, advisors, spiritual guides, head masters and such – brainwashing the populace in general from their very childhood into faith; as well as countering any undesirable interventions by those in power with their wise and well-intentioned counsel. Even today, most schools begin their day with prayers. Educational material is peppered with obligatory references to religion and faith; carefully held in line by the moral police. Most leaders openly flaunt their faith and even leverage it to garner power.
In summary, all the elements for an enduring success of perpetuating faith have been put into place. There is no debate as to how well this has worked. So what chance do we have to overcome this situation (assuming we need to)? Nearly none.
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