“More Moslems came, and soon a small mosque was built, which attracted yet others. As long as Zoroastrians remained in the majority, their lives were tolerable; but once the Moslems became the more numerous, a petty but pervasive harassment was apt to develop. This was partly verbal, with taunts about fire-worship, and comments on how few Zoroastrians there were in the world, and how many Moslems, who must therefore posses the truth; and also on how many material advantages lay with Islam. The harassment was often also physical; boys fought, and gangs of youth waylaid and bullied individual Zoroastrians. They also diverted themselves by climbing into the local tower of silence and desecrating it, and they might even break into the fire-temple and seek to pollute or extinguish the sacred flame. Those with criminal leanings found too that a religious minority provided tempting opportunities for theft, pilfering from the open fields, and sometimes rape and arson. Those Zoroastrians who resisted all these pressures often preferred therefore in the end to sell out and move to some other place where their co-religionists were still relatively numerous, and they could live at peace; and so another village was lost to the old faith.”
Boyce, A Persian Stronghold of Zoroastrianism, pp. 7-8;
I just saw a story yesterday that the Zoroastrian population in Iran has been cut in half since the fall of the Shah.
They use quite a few methods to screw them over. If anyone converts to Islam, they automatically become sole inheritor of the family wealth and everyone else gets nothing.
Christianity is now spreading rapidly there. My friend is friends with a missionary who was there 20 years. He said that the government is in a panic about it. The demand for Bibles is enormous.
There’s actually a much larger Zoroastrian population in India.
Besides government incentives in Iran for converting to Islam, there are a lot of young people who simply don’t want to have to marry another Zoroastrian.
Before Constantine forcibly converted the Roman Empire to Christianity, the most popular religion on earth was Zoroastrianism. December 25 was, of course, celebrated as the birthday of Mithra, the son of Ahura Mazda, and Constantine himself was an adherent.
Interesting, I really like Zoroastrianism, it’s ironic you post this because I was studying the religion recently. I’m reading Mysteries of Mithra right now. I think the religion is fascinating.
Question…is the cult of Mithra, the same as Zorastrianism, or is Zoroastrianism, the cult of Mithra with their prophet as Zoroaster. Information on the subject is sparse at best.
You’re misrepresenting tho, half of the population has emigrated to the West. Many Iranians emigrated to the rest, many people from the middle east and the rest of the world regardless of their political situation migrate to Canada, Australia and the USA.
I just wanted to clarify this, cuz the way you’re following claims were put, it presented the notion that they were chased out or dropped into blenders or something.
[quote]Sikkario wrote:
I just saw a story yesterday that the Zoroastrian population in Iran has been cut in half since the fall of the Shah.
You’re misrepresenting tho, half of the population has emigrated to the West. Many Iranians emigrated to the rest, many people from the middle east and the rest of the world regardless of their political situation migrate to Canada, Australia and the USA.
I just wanted to clarify this, cuz the way you’re following claims were put, it presented the notion that they were chased out or dropped into blenders or something.[/quote]
They emigrated because they were chased out. Iran discriminates against them in many areas. I listed one regarding inheritance rights but there are many more.
My Farsi teacher was a Zoroastrian. Nobody chased him out, he just emigrated, like countless other Christian, Zoroastrian, and moderate Muslim Iranians, when he realized that Khomeini’s revolution was not the basket of flowers and fruit that everyone had been led to believe.
[quote]Sikkario wrote:
Interesting, I really like Zoroastrianism, it’s ironic you post this because I was studying the religion recently. I’m reading Mysteries of Mithra right now. I think the religion is fascinating.
Question…is the cult of Mithra, the same as Zorastrianism, or is Zoroastrianism, the cult of Mithra with their prophet as Zoroaster. Information on the subject is sparse at best.[/quote]
The way I understand it, the cult of Mithra developed from monotheistic Ahura Mazda religion (“there is no god but Ahura Mazda, and Zarathustra is his prophet”) much as the cult of Jesus developed from Yahweh worship. Most of the myths are the same, and Mithra, like Jesus, was thought of as a redeemer, a messiah created to overcome evil and represent the creator on earth.
[quote]PRCalDude wrote:
Christianity is now spreading rapidly there. My friend is friends with a missionary who was there 20 years. He said that the government is in a panic about it. The demand for Bibles is enormous.[/quote]
Of course. Most people prefer a religion of peace.
[quote]Zap Branigan wrote:
Sikkario wrote:
I just saw a story yesterday that the Zoroastrian population in Iran has been cut in half since the fall of the Shah.
You’re misrepresenting tho, half of the population has emigrated to the West. Many Iranians emigrated to the rest, many people from the middle east and the rest of the world regardless of their political situation migrate to Canada, Australia and the USA.
I just wanted to clarify this, cuz the way you’re following claims were put, it presented the notion that they were chased out or dropped into blenders or something.
They emigrated because they were chased out. Iran discriminates against them in many areas. I listed one regarding inheritance rights but there are many more.[/quote]
The way I understand it, the cult of Mithra developed from monotheistic Ahura Mazda religion (“there is no god but Ahura Mazda, and Zarathustra is his prophet”) much as the cult of Jesus developed from Yahweh worship. Most of the myths are the same, and Mithra, like Jesus, was thought of as a redeemer, a messiah created to overcome evil and represent the creator on earth.
[/quote]
Yes. This is true.
Hey, if you get a chance, read the links I posted above. It is the Zend Avester, the Zoroastrian holy book. I hope the person who translated it is wrong. Yikes.
Mithra is a god, who is depicted at times a young man. It’s confusing, also, I’ve read some of teh Zend Avester. It is strange it really seems to be related very little to Mithra from what I have read of mysteries of Mithra.