Debate:Is the caste system supported by Hinduism?


 * Is the caste system in its authoritative and discriminatory form comes from/ supported by Hinduism?

Proposition
A Hindu is defined as the one who has the following beliefs :-

1. Belief in the righteous law or Dharma. 2. Belief in a single god permeating the universe known as Brahman. (there are atheistic schools of thought in Hinduism but let us ignore them for the purpose of this debate). 3. Belief in Atman or soul. 4. Belief in reincarnation. 5. Faith in the truth of Vedas, Upanishad and Bhagvad Gita.

P: Anything which is not promoted in the sacred texts of a religion cannit be attributed to the religion itself.

Q : None of the hindu texts promote the caste system in its discriminatory/authoritative form. The Vedas mention the class system where people in the society is divided in 4 parts on the basis of the work they do and not on the basis of the class they were born in.

From P and Q it follows that;

R: caste system in not an implicit hindu phenomenon but a cultural phenomenon.

Hinduism itself ultimately derives from Proto-Indo-European mythologies, and since we don't find much evidence of a caste system reflected in other Indo-European mythologies (take Norse mythology for example), I think the caste system is indigenous to the Indo-Aryans, Zoroastrians don't possess a caste system as Hindus do, and Zoroastrianism also ultimately derives from the same root as Hinduism, the aforementioned Proto-Indo-European mythology, and Persians are Iranian peoples, related to Indo-Aryan peoples since both ultimately belong to the Indo-Iranian group of peoples. Ɖøn Ĵuan (talk) 15:27, 19 December 2018 (UTC)
 * I reject P on the basis that many religions are purely oral traditions, and some, like Shinto, have books but they are not central, and trying to cram every supernatural belief system into a bible-shaped hole is unreasonable. Even in cases where a religion does have a sacred text, the premise is shaky.  There's absolutely zero basis in scripture for anti-abortion ideology, and yet Evangelical Christianity and anti-abortion ideology are deeply and inextricably tied.  Why?  Because of cultural beliefs passed through religious messages and organizations.  It's not a valid assumption, so the conclusion is unsupported by the deduction.  ikanreed 🐐Bleat at me 16:14, 19 December 2018 (UTC)
 * Looking back, I don't think the caste system is purely indigenous to the Indo-Aryans, many Indo-European groups possessed a trifold caste system, the warriors, the priests, and the common folk (not necessarily in that order), remember in addition to the Hindu Brahmans there were also the Celtic druids. — Oxyaena   Harass  11:28, 15 June 2019 (UTC)