Ritual torture amongst a technologically advanced tribe

                 I am studying anthropology.  Anthropologists study humans, especially their cultural practices.  My attention was recently drawn to a cultural practice of ritual torture amongst an ethnic group generally considered to have left the stone ages behind a long time ago. 
                 Innate amongst these people is a cultural belief that death and sickness can be held at bay by rituals of pain and torture.  In a twist of perception unusual amongst this culture, which generally focusses on the desires of the immediate present, people believe that if they undergo regular tortuous rituals now, they will avoid physical suffering later.  These rituals usually involve painful physical exertion, often to the limit of a person's endurance, ritual ingestion of strange foodstuffs, and deprivation of satiety. 
                 This ethnic group believes that a person's value is intrinsically linked to their physical abilities, and other tribesmen's perception of their physicality.  Indeed, tribesmen who have reached the peak of their physical abilities are generally held up as Holy Muscle Men, a form of human God and something tribesmen devote hours of their day to achieving.  The strongest and fastest tribesmen holds both economic and social domination, especially when negotiating a marriage or accumulating concubines.  These strongmen are held in such high esteem that in some cases they are even considered to be above the system of law. 
                  The more economic surplus this ethnic group generates, the more temples they erect, with at least one usually being found in every village.  These temples usually contain several Physical Holy Men dedicated to inflicting ritual torture upon their devoted followers.  In another paradox, this culture which prides itself on being cognitively aware, allows these Physical Holy Men to, almost hypnotically, co-erce  participants into self infliction of pain.  Indeed rituals are often accompanied by rhythmically hypnotic music. 
                 Tribesmen often bring  a large part of their earnings to give as an offering to these temples, in return for which they are allowed to take part in group ritual torture sessions.  These groups vary in size from just a few people to hundreds and even thousands, with being part of a mass ritual considered to be a great privilege.  Whilst suffering varies in amount, it is generally acknowledged that the more pain a person can take, the higher their place in the hierarchy will be, with those at the top suffering not only rituals of extreme physical exertion but also ritual beating by highly trained Holy Beating Men, and rituals whereby one's body is subjected to extreme temperatures. 
                 In another cultural paradox, this ethnic group who are usually so fastidious about quality of information, have allowed the rituals prescribed by the Physical Holy Men to remain shrouded in mystery.  (Perhaps all good religions need some mystery.)  In other areas of learning, tribesmen are encouraged to question knowledge with the goal of adding to it, but the religious hold of the Physical Holy Men is so strong that tribesmen show unquestioning obedience, and the secret knowledge they posess is only divulged upon the receipt of considerably large offerings. 
               
The goal of Malinowski, who is considered to be one of the founding fathers of anthropology, was to grasp the native's point of view, his relation to life, and to realise his vision of his world.  Hopefully this little essay has helped shed some light on the strange practices of this unusual ethnic tribe.