Imagine a Zoroastrian who always speaks the truth; and does good only for the sake of good, without any expectation of reward — spiritual or temporal. However, this righteous Zoroastrian, though regarding Ahura Mazda as the one God, never wears the sudreh and kusti, has never stepped inside a fire temple, never intones prayers and has never participated in any ceremony or ritual. Upon his transition, will he effortlessly soar through a celestial heaven or will he get hopelessly stuck on the Chinvat bridge, as Khshnoomists would have us believe?
While rituals are an integral part of most ancient faiths and......