1. How a community of faith and a person of faith responds to global issues such as Health, War, Wealth, Animal Rights and the Environment.

2. What means are used to bring quality into the discussions posed by these issues?

3. What insights can religion bring to the discussion on these issues?

Health

Zoroastrians believe that good health is the state which Ahura MazdaEmbodiment of good (often known as God) wishes for everyone and is the natural condition in which the first human was created. All sufferingThe universal condition of humankind, partly caused by the impermanence of all things is therefore an affliction of the force of evil Angra MainyuThe evil one (Middle Persian, AhrimanThe evil one ). Since the world is the Good CreationGood thoughts, words and deeds. of Ahura Mazda (Middle Persian, OhrmazdMiddle Persian for Avestan Ahura Mazda. ) humans have a duty to care for it and expand it through having children, caring for animals and by agriculture. In modern times this attitude has been applied to industry also.

War

As Zoroastrians in India and in the Iranian homeland have for over a thousand years been a minority, war has never been a realistic option. However, when Muslims invaded the Gujarat in the 13th century ParsisEarly followers of Zoroaster. fought alongside the Hindus to repel the invader. In the days of the ancient Zoroastrian Persian EmpireFounded around 550 BCE by Cyrus the Great, and lasting for approximately 200 years. (6th century BCE to the 7th century CE) the kings went to battle and took priests (magi) with them to lead prayersExtempore and set conversations with God before going into battle. Rock reliefs dating from the Sasanian eraHistorical period of time within Iran c.224-652CE. (3rd to 7th centuries) show the king triumphantly trampling his enemies underfoot just as Ohrmazd will one day trample Ahriman. It appears that the Iranian monarchs saw themselves as expanding order (Asha) throughout the world to overthrow the evil chaos wrought by enemies, such as when Cyrus the GreatConqueror of the Babylonians who established the Achaemenian Empire which lasted for over 200 years. conquered the Babylonians and set the Jews free from their exile.

In a world where poverty and wealth co-exist wealth is viewed as honorable providing it has been gained honestly and is shared through charitable giving. However, there is little to demonstrate much discussion of this as an issue in Zoroastrianism as sharing ones wealth is an expectation rather than an option.

Websites

http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/Zoro1.html

Bibliography

‘Abdu'l-Bahá, 1972. Paris Talks: Addresses given by ‘Abdu'l-Bahá in Paris, 1911-1912. London: UK Bahá'í Publishing Trust

Boyce, M., 1984. Textual Sources for the Study of Zoroastrianism. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

Boyce, M., 1997. 'Zoroastrianism'. In Hinnells, J.R. (ed.). New Penguin Handbook of Living Religions. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.

Boyce, M., 1977. A Persian Stronghold of Zoroastrianism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Boyce, M., 2000. Zoroastrians: their religious beliefs and practices, 2ed. London: Routledge.

Hinnells, J.R., 1985. Persian Mythology. London: Newnes Books.

Hinnells, J.R., 1996. Zoroastrians in Britain. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Hinnells, J.R., 2000. Zoroastrian and Parsi Studies: Selected works of John R. Hinnells. Aldershot: Ashgate. On Zoroastrian influence on the Bible.

Hinnells, J.R., 2001. Penguin Dictionary of Religions. London: Penguin.

Hinnells, J.R., 2005. The Zoroastrian Diaspora. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

SHAP (Shap Working Party), 1998. Festivals in World Religions. s.l.: s.n.

Zaehner, R.C., 1961. The Dawn and Twilight of Zoroastrianism. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. (some of the earlier chapters are now disputed)

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