Dilemma of the diaspora

Although Zoroastrians migrated to North America to enhance their own career and well-being they did not fail to preserve their religious heritage at least when they started raising their children. While this is true of the metropolitan areas where they were able to form associations and later on darbe mehers, unfortunately this may not hold for those who resided away from these centers. No study has been undertaken to review their predicament but they are often in a religious limbo and if they are married out their progeny usually end up adopting their wife’s faith. The first generation has exerted such great effort in imparting variegated religious education to their children and often enough to their own generation that it would suffice to inspire our progeny to continue their adherence to their ancient faith. Unfortunately, however, modernity lurks in the background as a bigger foe than any we ever had in the past, especially as we are so uprooted from our past culture, heritage, institutions and the like.

Ervad (Dr) Kersey Antia (left) with Dr Keki Grant

The problem has been intensified by a lack of foresight in inspiring the youth to take on the leadership positions in the central and local associations instead of clinging on to them even when their children have for long started raising their own families. These associations provide an easy venue for the older generation to hold on to power, thereby failing to inspire the youth to take them over and run them on their own with guidance from the seniors till it is available. Until this is done, we would not know where the wind will take our ship. Even more unpredictable is the situation regarding priests. We always hired priests wherever we went. The Greek historian Strabo testified to their presence in Anatolia (Turkey) even long after the fall of the Achemenids who had conquered it. The same was true for China. But we have not yet had the vision to hire a full-time priest, much less a high priest.
The older generation has been fortunate to have volunteer priests, but they are advancing in age. Some of them were dedicated enough to make their sons priests but it is hard for them to function on their own. They could be lost without such guidance especially in the western milieu where expounding the tenets of the religion and their relevance to us is as important as performing rituals. In a world competing for our allegiance this will be a difficult task since we are spread from Miami to Alaska and New York to Hawaii. Unless they focus on this issue, all our brilliant achievements in other spheres will be set at naught. May Ahura Mazda guide us before it is too late.