Readers' Forum
The clergy and the youth
It is a common lament that the youth of today are disinterested in matters religious. While the overall secularization of life has a definite role in this, the clergy cannot escape its share of the blame. The unwillingness to engage in meaningful debate was highlighted at a recent panel discussion held as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Delhi Agiary.
Wanting to know "why” is an essential part of an education. Zoroastrian philosophy, which is the core of the religion, clearly emphasizes the use of rationality and reason. However, many of our priests and scholars fail to appreciate the importance of this aspect emphasizing blind faith and observance of ritual. The audience in Delhi was informed that merely sitting through a religious ceremony brings spiritual merit. On raising the importance of understanding the liturgy, we were given a reply that that was of somewhat secondary importance to experiencing divine energy. This kind of reply does not satisfy a largely thinking and often skeptical youth. This was further confirmed by the reply given to a question raised on the segregation of women during their menstrual period. Using the defense of its practice in other religions (many of which have abandoned this practice) cuts no ice. Who in a liberal society would defend a literal interpretation of Manusmriti or of Islamic criminal law? To add insult to injury, a Biblical passage deeply offensive to women was cited as evidence to support this anachronistic position on the impurity of women, largely irrelevant given improvements in hygiene over time.
The relationship between a religion and its followers is necessarily a dynamic one. Religious practice that is not reflective of the society it is grounded in becomes ossified and increasingly irrelevant. It would indeed be tragic if the Zoroastrian faith disappears in India thanks to the dogmatic following of seemingly (at least to a large number of us) obscure rituals which appear out of their time to an increasingly questioning laity.
It is high time that the clergy came to the realization of the perils of this approach which is completely out of sync with the times. Today’s generation (at least its thinking members) is not going to accept answers blindly, whatever their source. We would prefer to subscribe to the philosophy embodied in the following quote "Listen with your ears to the best things, reflect with a clear mind, man by man for himself (Yasna 30,v 2).”
Wanting to know "why” is an essential part of an education. Zoroastrian philosophy, which is the core of the religion, clearly emphasizes the use of rationality and reason. However, many of our priests and scholars fail to appreciate the importance of this aspect emphasizing blind faith and observance of ritual. The audience in Delhi was informed that merely sitting through a religious ceremony brings spiritual merit. On raising the importance of understanding the liturgy, we were given a reply that that was of somewhat secondary importance to experiencing divine energy. This kind of reply does not satisfy a largely thinking and often skeptical youth. This was further confirmed by the reply given to a question raised on the segregation of women during their menstrual period. Using the defense of its practice in other religions (many of which have abandoned this practice) cuts no ice. Who in a liberal society would defend a literal interpretation of Manusmriti or of Islamic criminal law? To add insult to injury, a Biblical passage deeply offensive to women was cited as evidence to support this anachronistic position on the impurity of women, largely irrelevant given improvements in hygiene over time.
The relationship between a religion and its followers is necessarily a dynamic one. Religious practice that is not reflective of the society it is grounded in becomes ossified and increasingly irrelevant. It would indeed be tragic if the Zoroastrian faith disappears in India thanks to the dogmatic following of seemingly (at least to a large number of us) obscure rituals which appear out of their time to an increasingly questioning laity.
It is high time that the clergy came to the realization of the perils of this approach which is completely out of sync with the times. Today’s generation (at least its thinking members) is not going to accept answers blindly, whatever their source. We would prefer to subscribe to the philosophy embodied in the following quote "Listen with your ears to the best things, reflect with a clear mind, man by man for himself (Yasna 30,v 2).”
Dr ZUBIN CYRUS SHROFF
KAINAZ DOTIVALA SHROFF
Delhi
shroff.zubin@gmail.com
KAINAZ DOTIVALA SHROFF
Delhi
shroff.zubin@gmail.com
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