# Zoroastrianism One of the world's oldest continuously-practiced religions and the historical state religion of pre-Islamic Persian empires (Achaemenid, Parthian, Sasanian) for over a millennium. Zoroastrianism centers on the worship of Ahura Mazda ("Wise Lord") as the supreme god, the cosmic dualism between Ahura Mazda's truth (*asha*) and the principle of falsehood and chaos (*druj* — associated with the destructive spirit Angra Mainyu / Ahriman), and the ethical responsibility of human beings to choose truth in thought, word, and deed. Despite its small contemporary adherent count (~100,000–200,000 globally), Zoroastrianism is historically pivotal: its dualistic cosmology, eschatological framework (final judgment, resurrection of the dead, a savior figure), and ethical framework deeply influenced the development of Jewish, Christian, and Islamic religious thought during and after the Babylonian exile period. The religion appears in US right-wing discourse mainly as a civilizational-decline reference point and as a marker of "ancient Aryan" or "Indo-European" heritage in some dissident-right framings. ## Founding and core beliefs Zarathustra (Greek: Zoroaster) — the founding prophet — is traditionally dated anywhere from 1500 BCE to 600 BCE; modern scholarship has not settled the question. He preached a reform of older Indo-Iranian polytheistic religion: the elevation of Ahura Mazda as supreme deity, the demotion of the older deities (*daevas*) to status as malevolent beings, the centrality of ethical choice between good and evil, and the eventual triumph of truth over falsehood at the end of cosmic history. Core principles: monotheism centered on Ahura Mazda, with cosmic dualism between Ahura Mazda and the destructive spirit Angra Mainyu / Ahriman; the three precepts — *humata* (good thoughts), *hukhta* (good words), *hvarshta* (good deeds); reverence for fire as a symbol of divine purity (the religion is sometimes called "fire worship," though the fire is symbol rather than object of worship); funerary practice of exposing corpses (in *dakhma* — "towers of silence") rather than burying or cremating, on the principle that earth and fire should not be polluted by death; an elaborate eschatology involving the *Saoshyant* (a future savior born of Zarathustra's preserved seed), a final battle between good and evil, resurrection of the dead, and final judgment with the righteous crossing the Chinvat Bridge to paradise and the wicked falling into hell. The historical influence on neighboring religions is substantial: many features of Second-Temple Judaism (apocalypticism, angelology, demonology, resurrection, final judgment, satan as personified evil) appear to have developed during or after the Babylonian exile in significant dialogue with Zoroastrian thought. ## Major divisions Two principal historical communities: - **Iranian Zoroastrians** (sometimes called *Zartoshtis*) — the community remaining in Iran after the Arab Muslim conquest of Persia (7th century CE). Subject to centuries of Islamic state pressure and demographic decline; now concentrated in Yazd, Kerman, Tehran. Roughly 15,000–25,000 remain. - **Parsis** — Zoroastrians who fled Persia for India (primarily Gujarat) beginning in the 8th–10th centuries CE to escape Islamic persecution. Established communities in Mumbai and elsewhere; historically prominent in Indian commerce and the arts (the Tata industrial family, conductor Zubin Mehta, the late singer Freddie Mercury were Parsis). Roughly 50,000–60,000 Parsis remain in India; an additional Iranian Zoroastrian community established itself in India during the 19th–20th centuries. Smaller diaspora communities in the US, UK, Canada, Australia. ## Demographic footprint ~100,000–200,000 globally (estimates vary; the community is in long-term demographic decline due to strict endogamy, very low conversion intake — traditional Zoroastrianism is essentially closed to outside conversion — and below-replacement fertility). Most concentrated in: India (~55,000 Parsis), Iran (~15,000–25,000), Pakistan, the United States (~15,000–25,000), Canada, the UK, Australia, the UAE. ## Right-wing politics tributaries Zoroastrianism's direct US right-wing political footprint is essentially nil — the community is too small for significant political organizing. The religion does appear in several right-adjacent rhetorical contexts: **As Western-civilization-decline reference point.** Some right-wing commentators invoke Zoroastrianism's near-disappearance under Islamic political pressure as a cautionary parallel for what they fear awaits Christianity in Europe — the "first ancient religion to be displaced by Islam." The framing is recurring in counter-jihad and [[Eurabia]]-genre commentary. **As "ancient Aryan" or "Indo-European" reference point.** In dissident-right and neo-traditionalist circles, Zoroastrianism is sometimes invoked as part of a recovered "ancient Aryan" or "Indo-European" religious heritage — sometimes with reasonable historical-comparative engagement, sometimes with explicit racial framings. The Iranian / Indo-European Aryan-heritage framing is particularly visible in fringe right-wing online cultures. **Through Parsi prominence in Indian commerce and politics.** The Parsi community's disproportionate prominence in Indian business and culture (the Tata family in particular) appears in US right-wing engagement with India and Indian-American business networks, though without much religious-content engagement. **Nietzsche's** *[[Thus Spoke Zarathustra]]* **as right-wing literary touchstone.** Nietzsche's appropriation of "Zarathustra" as the prophetic voice of his philosophical project has nothing to do with actual Zoroastrian religion, but the book is widely read and referenced across the philosophical-right intellectual ecosystem. ## See also - [[Islam]] — the religious community that displaced Zoroastrianism in Iran after the 7th-century Arab Muslim conquest - [[Judaism]] · [[Christianity]] — religions whose eschatological, angelological, and dualistic vocabularies show significant Zoroastrian influence