[SF Republican]

Is this the religion where the "halos" come from in Christianity? I know they deal a lot in fire - this is pure speculation

[Vigilanteman]

But Islamists see the ceremonies as a pagan relic.

Let's see, Islamists, who have their origin as worshipers of a pagan moon god, see a festival of Zoroaster's, an enlightened and tolerant religion who sent three of their ancient kings to seek the Christ child, the son of God, as a pagan ceremony? Zoroaster's are a more advanced religion than Islamists can ever hope to be.

[Southern Federalist]

This is one of the interesting imponderables about Iran: in a truly democratic and pluralistic Iran, might Zoroastrianism make a comeback? It was the state religion of ancient Persia for centuries; might it appeal to Iranians disillusioned with Islam and looking for an alternate Iranian identity?

At present, it seems, Traditional Zoroastrianism defines all religions as equal (the Righteous of all faiths will enter into heaven) and does not accept converts . On this view, Zoroastrianism is for the "Aryans" (pre-Hitler sense) and Zoroastrians are prohibited from marrying outside their ethnic community.

On the other hand, the Wikipedia article linked above says that "there is a growing interest among Kurdish people of various national backgrounds, as well as peoples in various Central Asian countries such as Tajikistan and Kazakhstan, in their ancient Zoroastrian heritage; many people in these countries now consider themselves Zoroastrian." and other sources suggest that there is a "liberal" wing that accepts or even encourages conversions. So perhaps Iranians would count as suitable adherents to some form of the religion.

As a Christian, I don't believe that all religions are equally true. But at the moral level, Zorastrianism has always seemed to me, on the basis of admittedly superficial knowledge, to be a religion that's at least fit for a gentleman.

[SunkenCiv]

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