"Trixey . . they took the election, my precious"
Posted on 12/13/2003 12:49:52 PM PST by Extremely Extreme Extremist
*Pseudo-Intellectual Who's Heard A New Word But Doesn't Know What It Means Alert*
First of all, the proper word for the faith is "Zarathustra". "Zoroaster" is a Greek corruption. Secondly, Zarathustrianism is a dualistic theology. Tolkien's theological myth structure is monotheistic - very Catholic, in fact.
 Ring Ping!! |
Anyone wishing to be added to or removed from the Ring-Ping list, please don't hesitate to let me know.
I would, if I knew what he ~said~!
Not that I have any good reason to defend these misguided pagans, but having met a few "(east) Indian-American" Zoroastrians recently, I read this about them:
"Zoroastrianism is the ancient religion of Persia. It was founded about 3500 years ago by the prophet Zarathushtra. Arising out of the polytheistic traditions of ancient India and Iran, he was one of the first monotheists in human history. Zarathushtra preached that there was one God, whom he called Ahura Mazda. Ahura means 'Lord,' and Mazda means 'Wise,' so Zoroastrians call God the 'Wise Lord.' "
Of course, Tolkien's Catholic theological myth structure is "True Myth".
There are two gods. The "Good Spirit" is Ahura Mazda and the "Evil Spirit" is Angra Mainyu. Their relationship to one another is very similar to Yin and Yang.
The portions of the Avesta of Zarathustra which survived Islam's attempt to wipe from the face of the Earth are quite interesting reading. Also - though often considered apocrypha - the Desatir is very beautiful. I suggest them both.
Presumably the author means elves are incapable of evil. If so, she really ought to reread the Silmarillion. Lots of elves do evil things in it.
Probably one of the most unfortunate things about the current Rings phenomenon is the multiude of ignorant critics who first rushed to bash it (prior to and during the early run of the first film) and are now falling all over themselves to praise it (now that two wildly successful films ahve been released). It seems that most have read them primarily to check off the plot points as they appear-- or don't-- in the movies. I've yet to read a critique of the series that begins, "I enjoyed (or hated) the movies, but when I finally read the books..."
Perfect!
The idea of Zarathustrian thought being Monotheistic is actually a very common error.
There are two gods. The "Good Spirit" is Ahura Mazda and the "Evil Spirit" is Angra Mainyu. Their relationship to one another is very similar to Yin and Yang.
You are simply playing word games.
The point is Zarathustrians only worship one god, so they are monotheists.
You could just as easily say that there are two "gods" in Christianity: "God" and the Devil. Or three "good gods": Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Or many, many gods if you define angels and saints as "gods", and why not, since they manifest most of the attributes of gods?
All monotheists did (immitating Zoroaster/Zarathustra) was to condemn all the old gods as "devils" and to devote all their devotion to a new "good" god supposedly in charge of everything.
But even the strictest monotheism is dualist in admitting a power of evil, either equal or inferior in power to that of good, but god-like none the less. And the good and evil gods have lots of helpers, angels and demons, so what we have here is still the same old polytheism under a new name, with all the credit going to the "good god" who is supposed to be running the show.
Conversely, all polytheists admit to a greater unifying power that could be called "god" and is therefore partly monotheistic in nature. Polytheists tend not to worship "jealous" gods, naturally. Worship a jealous god, and you end up being a monotheist.
Christianity itself is simply a renamed/repurposed Zoroastrianism, by way of Mithraism and messianic Judaism (such as the Essenes and other no longer extant Jewish groups). Much of Christian ritual and belief is virtually identical to much older Mithraism and Zoroastrianism, and its eschatology and implicit dualism, though coming to Christianity through the half-way house of messianic Judaism, is straight from Persia, and is unadulterated Zorastrianism in its core assumptions.
Zoro worshippers?? I thought we were talking about the movies..er books? =o)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.