#zoroaster

Originating in Iran, Zoroastrianism is one of the world's oldest monotheistic religions. It's founder Zarathustra, AKA Zoroaster, lived some time between 1,500-1,000 BCE. He was one of the first in his part of the world to preach the idea of a single, non-corporal deity, as well as the idea of an eternal battle between good and evil. Fire factors into many Zoroastrian rituals, but they don't literally worship it, which is a common misconception.

In Hebrew school, my teachers taught us that ours was the first monotheistic religion. In my Hebrew teachers' defense, it was the 90s, and information was nowhere near as easy to come by as it is now; plus, half of them were in still high school themselves (our synagogue was tiny). In any case, Judaism took inspiration from Zoroastrianism. Zoroastrianism is to Judaism as "Dune" is to "Star Wars." And by extention, Christianity, Islam, Baha'ism, and the Druze religion have a bit of Zoroastrianism in them.

Zoroastrianism uh, declined after Islam became the main religion of Iran. Some Zoroastrians chose to remain in their homeland despite persecution. Others emigrated, and moved throughout the Middle East and South Asia before finally finding refuge in India. This group is now known as the Parsi people.

Freddie Mercury of Queen was a Zoroastrian Parsi.

Zoroastrianism has remained a small religion in numbers, not only due to the persecution, but also because like Judaism, Zoroastrianism has red tape for converts, which it doesn't seek out, and sometimes the kids of mixed marriages aren't counted as members of the faith. (Link)

However, Zoroastrianism is now making a comeback in Iran. The Islamic Republic of Iran has backfired, causing many Iranians to secretly leave Islam for other faiths. Since apostasy is punishable by death in Iran, the exact numbers of those who do so are hard to pinpoint, since they won't exactly broadcast it. Zoroastrianism, Baha'ism and Christianity are all popular choices, while many others are simply Atheist or Agnostic.

Zoroastrianism growing particularly among Kurds rediscovering their roots, and who particularly tend to feel disillusioned with Islam, what with the oppression and genocide and all that.

Many Iranian Muslims have a positive view of Zoroastrianism, recognizing its influence on their culture. Some more fundamentalist individuals on the other hand deny the identity and authenticity of this indigenous faith (And if you're Jewish, you're now saying to yourself, "Woa, deja vu!") But there are also many Muslim leaders who defend Zoroastrians, and call for peaceful coexistence.