Flawed Parsi premise

The definitions of ‘Parsi’ and ‘Zara-thushti (aka Zoroastrian by Anglophiles)’ has been plaguing the Zara-thushti community recently, because of the controversy over the formation of a World Body. Recently a past president of the Federation of Zoroas­trian Associations of North America (FEZANA) tried to clarify the issue on the ‘creatingawareness’ e-group stating: "There is a flaw in the premise that all Parsis are Zoroastrians.” I would like to elaborate on that theme.

I have known two Parsi Bahai and three Parsi Christian scientists for a long time. All of these are extremely fine people, much better behaved than some from the Khojeste Mistree group who shout and cause trouble at public functions.

A few years ago I came across a Parsi Catholic living five miles away from my home. When I spoke to my friends about the Parsi Catholic they laughed because they thought of Parsi as a religion, which it is not. This man was the son of two Parsi parents and nephew of a very well respected priest of London, UK. He most certainly is a Parsi. His Zarathushti mother who lives with him and his Christian family prays daily from her Khordeh Avesta.

He became a Catholic years ago while living in northern India where he found good fellowship and support among the Catholics and did not have much Parsi influence around him. However the reports he got about the Parsis (mainly of Bombay) was that of a lot of boisterous, contentious infighting pertaining to BPP (Bombay Parsi Punchayet) elections, refusal of last rites (dakhmenashini) to a Parsi Zarathushti who was married to a non-Parsi and children of mixed marriages being called bastards by our Zarathushti priests, which disgusted him. Small wonder that he elected for change! I have never come across reports of such crude behavior by the priesthood of any other established religion, towards children of any ethnicity or religion, or towards the dead who had requested the solace of last rites.

It behoves us, the compassionate right-minded Parsi Zarathushtis, to reclaim our ancient and magnificent religion from the opinionated priests and half-baked scholars who are holding it hostage. We should not even attempt to get these unfeeling, ill-advised, self-styled ‘saviors of the religion’ into a world body of Zarathushtis.

Jamshed R. Udvadia

Lansing, MI, USA