12.5 Who is running things?  (Page 2/3)

In Tibetan Buddhism, we find a similar structure to Catholicism. Junior monks are superior to laypeople, but the smaller number of senior monks have authority over the juniors, and a very small number of lamas (very senior monks) are even more powerful, but only within their own organisation. And so it goes, until we come to the Dalai Lama , who is the supreme head of all the schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Unlike the Pope, however, he is not regarded as infallible.

Other monarchic arrangements can be found in new religious movements, where we usually find that while the founder is still alive, his every wish is obeyed. In fact, this is also what we see when we look back at the history of many of the great religions. Even if a founder of a religion is a very kind and considerate person, we see that their strength of personality and the importance of their message allows them to rule the faithful like a monarch.

When the founder dies, however, there is usually a crisis. Who will rule now? Some founders manage to appoint a successor. Baha'u'llah, the founder of the Baha'i Faith, for example, appointed his son Abdul–Ba'ha. And this arrangement can last a few generations, but soon enough the crisis of management tends to erupt.

Oligarchy

What we usually find is that a small group of followers who knew the founder personally tend to take over. At this stage the new religion is an oligarchy – it is ruled by a few people. One thinks of Jesus' disciples, or the companions of Muhammad, or the 500 enlightened monks who gathered to encode the Buddha's teachings after his death. This oligarchic stage can last for a long time, as long as the religion remains capable of producing enigmatic people who are willing to lead.

In African Religion, one may receive a call from the ancestors to start the long training process to become a healer. This is not a matter for debate: the ancestors will keep on sending you dreams and visions until you submit to their will and start your training. And the ancestors can send their demands to anyone, at any time. To the extent that African religion is managed and directed by these healers, we may call it oligarchic.

Most theistic religions will maintain that God is the ultimate ruler of all human affairs. But in practice, they leave the day–to–day running of the state to human rulers and politicians. But in a few cases, religious institutions have actually taken over the running of the state. This is called a theocracy. A bad choice of term, actually – the word theocracy is Latin for "rule by God", but in reality it boils down to "rule by the priests"!

Aristocracy

In some cases, this task of leadership slowly becomes hereditary, being passed from father to son or from mother to daughter. The formerly oligarchic religion is now an aristocracy . Hinduism is a good example of this. If you are born a Brahmin, you will lead the people in religious matters. If you were born anything else, you will not. You must belong to one of the families in the Brahmin caste if you want to become a priest. It is not an automatic process – you will still have to spend many long years in study and preparation. But being born to the right parents is the first step.