Samantha Katie James, former Malaysian Miss Universe, came under fire back in June for comments she made on instagram about racial unrest in the US (Washington Examiner). She posted “Relax, take it as a challenge, makes you stronger. You choose to be born as a ‘colored’ person in America for a reason. To learn a certain lesson.”

There’s a lot wrong with her post:

• Relax? I don’t see why anyone should relax in the face of repeated injustices and murders of citizens by those paid to serve and protect.
• Taking life as a challenge is not a bad philosophy. The point is life shouldn’t be more of a challenge because of the color of one’s skin. One could add gender, religion, economic status, and sexual orientation at the end of that statement.
• The term colored is not accepted by the black community; people should have the right to determine their own description.
• The only lesson to be learned by recent events is despite our lofty ideals, America still has the problem of systemic racial injustice. The first slaves were brought to North America in 1526. That’s damn near 500 years!
• Why would choosing to be black be a bad thing?

She later apologized for her remarks.

But where did she get these ideas? From religion. Hinduism is one of the religions that doesn’t hide reincarnation from it’s followers. It does however add dogma by claiming we choose our future family in the time between lifetimes.

Dogma is defined as a point of view or tenet put forth as authoritative (by a church or religion) without adequate grounds. Dogma is a way to control access to knowledge and maintain the power over others said knowledge enables.

I will not argue if reincarnation is true or not. Some do not believe in reincarnation, some do believe and some know. Do we choose our future families? Capt McCoy is here to tell you that is untrue; you can be placed in a future family against your will (see Case Study 3 and Case Study 9).

In India this belief was used to justify the caste system and the persecution of the Dalit or “untouchables.” They are people who are born to no caste. Their skin is also darker. They are descendants of the original inhabitants of the Indus Valley. They were conquered by the Aryans and have been suppressed ever since. They cannot vote, have no rights, are discriminated against and often abused with no legal recourse (The Guardian). They can only take “unclean” jobs and many survive by scavenging dumps. There are over 200 million Dalits in India. The Buddha, Jain and Mahatma Ghandi all opposed discrimination against the Dalits.

This brings us to another point. To create a society controlled by a small number of people (an oligarchy) it is necessary to build a society that largely controls itself and whose members are easily manipulated. In the caste system each group suppresses the one below it.

The psychology behind it is simple; they are better fed dogs. The caste below them has greater numbers, the smallest caste being the one at the top. This creates fear of members of the next echelon. This fear creates fervent militarism in efforts at suppression. Each caste keeps the one below it in place from the top to the bottom. To take over this society all one has to do is be born, or put someone like them, in a Brahmin caste family (Case Study 30).

This strategy is not unique to India. It has been mimicked. Rwanda was part of German East Africa from 1885 until 1919. The German colonists relied on the Tutsis for support. The colonists armed them, gave them preferential treatment, and used them to suppress the Hutu majority. Because the Tutsi population was smaller they clung to their place of power fiercely. Prior to colonization they had been the threatened minority. When Belgium took over after World War I they continued to use the existing power structure.

In 1961 Rwanda gained independence and immediately fell into violence and strife. Neighboring Burundi had existed under the same power structure with the same tribes. Hutu and Tutsi armies and militias continually clashed. Atrocities and mass murders were carried out by both sides. In 1994 a plane carrying the presidents of both countries was shot down; the Hutus came unglued. They killed 70% of the Tutsi population, close to 1 million people. The horrific event is called the Rwandan Genocide. This was created by the imposition of a manufactured power structure in their society by outsiders. The mentality remained in the minds of the people decades after they gained independence.

The tactic of maintaining a caste system is not so hard to comprehend. It can also be utilized in less apparent ways. It should be obvious for minority rule (rule by oligarchy or dictatorship) racism, sexism, religious intolerance and homophobia must be maintained and encouraged through overt and subversive means. Blaming the problems on opponents, outside influence and/or a democratic government is a way to disguise the efforts. The rise of these tendencies is a harbinger of doom for freedom. The forces creating this environment are dead set on the destruction of democracies and the free world.