Conversion is a modern non-Zoroastrian idea


A fellow Zarathushtri said:

"When did we decide not to convert anyone into our religion? I mean when our prophet started preaching the religion, HE spreaded it to a major part of Iran etc. So why is it that we stopped converting people to Parsees? Is is after we came to India from Iran?"

Let us understand what "conversion" means first.

"Conversion" is a modern idea that started with Paul, a disciple of Christ. Christ said in the Bible "I am sent for the Jews only". When Christ passed away, only Jews were among the disciples of Christ, it was like a sect of Judaism - all disciples of Christ were also Jews and obeyed the religious laws of the Jews.

Then, after Christ passed away and some time had passed, there came a new disciple, a Jew called Paul who after a few years convinced the other disciples to start accepting non-Jews as disciples, and not asking them to follow the laws of the Jews. After a lot of debate, the other disciples agreed.

At that point, the idea of "conversion" was born that had never existed before in all the tens of thousands of years of human history. As soon as non-Jews started being accepted as disciples of Christ and it was not necessary for them to follow the laws of the Jews, it was then that Christianity became a "new" religion.

The above is documented, verified history. Note that the idea of "conversion" has not come from a Prophet of God like Christ, it has come from a follower after the Prophet had passed away. As such the very idea is religiously suspect. No true Prophet of God has ever endorsed "conversion" - since a true Prophet would know that every religion on this earth comes from God and it is wrong to "hop" religions.

What happened tens of thousands of years BEFORE Paul came along? Well, each group or race of people had their own religion or set of beliefs.

For eg, the Jews had Judaism, the Hindus Hinduism, and the Aryans in Iran followed the Mazdayasni Zarathushtri religion. The native Americans in Ameirca had their own set of beliefs, including the Creator and after-life, and the aborigines too had their sacred stories, sacred paintings and sacred land which only their people could listen to, see, or walk on.

For tens of thousands of years, people did not go up to other people and say "my beliefs are better than yours, you should accept my beliefs". People were much happier, and more tolerant, when the idea of "conversion" was not present - which in the last 2000 years has led to mass destruction of peoples and culture, enmity and hatred, and much unhappiness in the world.

Now, about the Mazdayasni Zarathushtri religion, we Aryans in Iran followed the way of the ancestors, the Pouryo-takeshan, they who first saw and practiced the path of Righteousness. In the days of the ancients, every man was close to God, the great Kayanian Kings of Iran were like Prophets themselves upto the age of Shah Jamshed, when the evil one struck the ancient homeland in the form of an ice age.

Slowly, due to mass migrations, intense cold, and suffering, the divine state of man slipped. Our ancestors came to Iran. After tens of thousands of years, when the ancient religion had become corrupted in Iran and evil magicians had gained power, Ahura Mazda sent the soul of Zarathushtra down to earth, to re-ignite the ancient Aryan religion and remove the evil that had crept into it.

Therefore we call ourselves Mazdayasni Zarathushtris - not just Zarathushtris. This is because Zarathushtra did not start a new religion - but He was the Saviour of the old Mazdayasni religion, otherwise it would have decayed and disappeared, like it did among the other Aryans.

To understand this further - note that today the Jews still wait for a Messiah, the saviour promised in their religion. When the Messiah appears, they will not stop being Jews, but the Messiah will re-ignite their existing religion in their hearts and minds.

Likewise, we Zarathushtris wait for three great Saviours to come -

1. HOSHEDAR

2. HOSHEDAR-MAH

3. SAOSHYANT

These Saviours will appear once every 1000 years.

When they appear, we wont stop being Zarathushtris. We will probably call ourselves after them, for eg. Mazdayasni-Zarathushtri-Hoshedari.

Likewise, when Zarathushtra came, we didnt stop being Mazdayasnis. As such there was no "conversion" in the modern sense of the word.

You can slap this argument in the face of any modern liberal who wrongly tells you that Zarathushtra "converted". That is a gross and purposeful error on their part, in an effort to copy the Christians and other religions who "convert".


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