From the desk of an Iranian immigrant

After the Arab invasion, a group of my ancestors left home to take refuge in foreign lands. A millennium later, I fled with another mass of my fellow countrymen to escape the second wave of Arab invasion and took asylum in the New World.

Every individual holds three different identities: polit­ical, cultural and religious. After losing our native political identity, we Iranian immigrants are distressed in preserving our cultural and religious identities in exile.

We are now facing new challenges which our ancestors had to confront in India centuries ago. I believe with regards to time, place and society, there are many similarities, experienced by our forefathers post their migration to India and the current wave of Iranian immigrants to the West.

By leaving home for India, our ancestors gave up their political identity for the sake of preserving their cultural and religious identities. You have to choose your battles and strug­gle for what is most important to you.

In India, the two cultural and religious identities were somehow assimilated into one entity, and has remained as what we know today as "Parsi.” This may be the ground why some Parsis oppose conversion even in a free and democratic India, whilst their Iranian-Zarathushti counterparts are in favor of gaining fresh blood into the Good Religion, and that in spite of the prevailing political scenario in Iran.

To distinguish the characteristics of the ethnic and religious identities, I have listed some perceptions:

–Parsis of Iranian origin have been a minority in the Indian subcontinent for the past 1,000 years.

–The main and native language of Parsis is Gujarati.

–The Shahenshahi calendar is an exclusively Parsi calendar.

–There is a Parsi cuisine — dhansak, akuri, niro, laganu-nu bhonu, etc.

–There is a Parsi attire such as the garo, sari, tanchoi, dagli and pugree.

–Parsiism is an ethnicity.

–There are Zarathushtis who are not Parsis (i.e. Iranian Zar­athushtis).

–Parsi ceremonies are different from Iranian Zarathushti ceremo­nies.

–Parsiism is not a religion.

–If a Parsi converts to Christianity, Hinduism or Islam, he/she will still remain a Parsi.

–If a Parsi marries a Christian, Hindu or Muslim, he/she will still remain a Parsi.

–If a Christian or Muslim converts to Zoroastrianism, he/she is not a Parsi.

–Parsiism is a culture.

–Parsi heritage and culture is precious and should be preserved.

–Zoroastrianism is not a tangible body.

–Zoroastrianism is a religion, faith or conviction.

–Faith and personal convictions cannot be owned, monopolized or copyrighted by any group, country or race.

–Zoroastrianism is a good religion and should be preserved.

The synthesis of the two different ethnic and religious identities might have worked at some time and place to preserve both attributes. But the failure of continuing this synthesis is becoming increasingly more evident in today’s society and time. The declining number of Parsis in India is a verification of this failure. Slogans that state, "Parsi culture and Zarathushti religion cannot be separated” put both cultural and religious identities in danger. I believe the cultural identity endangers the religious identity, when it is imposed with statements like: "Once you marry another race, you have left the Parsi clan, and are no longer a Zarathushti.” The religious identity imperils the cultural identi­ty when the Parsi ethnicity is threatened in India as when every time an American or European chooses the Zarathushti religion without any exposure to Parsiism from the opposite side of the planet!

The solution? I am not a Parsi, but I know that Parsi heritage is not, and should not be limited to any religion. I believe Parsiism should be promoted and preserved for the sake of preserving one of the most precious and richest cultures of our world and not a religion. The same preservation should be given to the Zarathushti religion. With this outlook, we would have a stable Parsi-Zarathushti community and will have more credibility in preserving the separate Parsi cultural and Zarathushti religi­ous identities.

It is much easier to promote and preserve Parsiism than it is to stop and forbid conversion in every corner of the plan­et. It is more realistic to recognize Parsiism as one of the world’s greatest cultures, than to refuse to accept Zara­thushtis of other civilizations.

The same applies to us Iranian immigrants. By imposing Iranian traditions on our children, we make it more difficult, if not impossible, for the children to choose the Zarathushti faith as their religion. Being Iranian or having to become one should not be a condition for being a Zarathushti.

Although, equivalent to Parsiism, we could preserve and promote our Iranian ethnicity along with our Zarathushti religi­ous identity. The language in our household here in Southern California is Persian and my wife and I are raising our two sons Parsa and Kourosh with Iranian customs and traditions. Unlike most Iranian families we do not decorate our house with lights and a Christmas tree in the month of December. We only know how to teach our children to uphold our own cultural background. (Thanks to immigrants of all corners of the world, America is rich with so many beautiful cultures.) However, if we ever have to choose, we would rather have our boys as American-Zarathushtis than Iranian-Christians, Jews or Muslims.

In the vein of our forefathers who exiled to India, we discourage our children from marrying outside the faith. But we will endorse their right to choose fully enlightened partners of any ethnicity who are wise to see the highest truth. We welcome initiated spouses standing before the fire altar to choose the "good conscience” as the way to live the good life.

God bless America where my wife and I, both born to Muslim parents, are accepted by society to raise our children as Zarathushtis.

Tehran born Arman Ariane studied in Vienna and moved to the USA in 1984. An active member of the Zoroastrian community of Southern California, he has been instrumental in establishing courses on Zoroastrianism at the Claremont Graduate University in California.