Intermarriage in the Zarathushti Religion

INTERMARRIAGE: YES OR NO?

"Intermarriage." This thirteen-letter word, upon its very mention, brings up what may be the most important (and the most controversial) issue the Zarathushti community faces today. Should intermarriage be accepted and promoted? This question baffles many and in some cases even tears families and communities apart, but nevertheless everyone claims to know the answer, one way or another. In this article I hope to explore this topic, so that I may enlighten you all about this issue which is crucial to the Zarathushti community in North America today.

Let us start with a little history. The Sassanian Empire flourished until AD 652 in Persia (what is now Iran) and fell in that year due to problems within the royal family. The royal family fell because of lack of cooperation between its various branches on account of religion. Some of the royalty was married to non-Zarathushtis who demanded control over the empire and eventually the empire fell to the Arabs. Those Zarathushtis who wanted to continue to keep their religion were forced to flee. This is one example of the family problems that may be caused due to intermarriage.

So the Parsis who landed in India after the fall of the Persian Empire realized the harm that intermarriage had brought to their community. They did not allow intermarried couples to become Zarathushti, and with this policy they have survived in India for the last 1,300 years. This is solid proof that rejecting intermarried couples will save your community. Assimilation leads to loss of identity, which leads to the end of your community. This holds true for all minorities, including Jews in America, tribal groups in Africa, and others, and history has proved it.

Although intermarriage may be the best way for Christians, Muslims, and Hindus to raise their numbers, there are some differences between these communities and the Zoroastrian community that must be remembered

The Zarathushti community is very small compared to these others. When you combine two communities by marriage, the smaller will always mix into and become a part of the larger, never the other way around. It is like mixing two thousand gallons of red paint with five gallons of blue paint. The result will be more red than blue. Similarly, if you mix three hundred million Christians in America with a few thousand Zarathushtis the Zarathushti community will mix in and disappear, just as the Native Americans married the Europeans in America. Can you see many Native Americans around today? No, but many people claim they have some Native American blood, that's all. When you begin intermarrying, large communities grow at the expense of smaller ones.

Some people will make an argument that our Zarathushti scriptures do not prohibit marrying outside the community. Although some references do exist in the scriptures about intermarriage, these references are vague and depend on how you translate the scriptures. However it must be kept in mind that besides our scriptures, there are other sources of religious doctrine that Zarathushtis are expected to follow, one of which is the oral tradition. We know that the rules against intermarriage have come to us through history for the last thousands of years, originating from the oldest Zarathushtis, and as such they are part of our religious doctrine just like our scriptures and must be obeyed. (It is recorded in "Gangesayigan", 6th century AD, that a chief minister of King Noshervan advised him not to let his son become king as his mother was Roman. Rules against intermarriage have been around that long.)

I would like to address all of the Zarathushti youth today with this important message: Make the most of your life, for your life is a gift from God to you. Live it as He wanted. Since you are a good, loyal faithful Zarathushti, and your religion makes up a big part of your life, you want your partner to understand the religion the same way as you do. You will find no one else like a good Zarathushti. After all, yourreligion teaches you to marry within your community, and your religion is your connection to God himself. Why should you try to mess around with it?

Religion is man's method of worshipping God, so it must be followed as God wants, not as man wants. What is religion if it can be changed by man? I would like toencourage all the true Zarathushtis of today, with a whole heart, to encourage your youth to marry within the community. If you try to expose them to Zoroastrian ideas and practices it is not impossible, regardless of the atmosphere. If you do so you will be helping our religion's future and teaching our kids to follow their religion like a true, honest, faithful Zarathushti. In God's eyes, you will be great.