In Iran or India, the bulk of the Zoroastrian community (60-70 percent) may be said to be moderately religious, with the non-religious and the strongly religious comprising comparatively fewer individuals at either end of the spectrum, writes Kourosh Soroushian in his paper presented at the Eighth World Zoroastrian Congress, London. He notes that the moderately religious owe their large number to the existence of the social and religious support structures like Zoroastrian organizations and gatherings, temples, holy sites, etc. Without these support structures it is possible that there may have been more individuals in the non-religious category, even in these home countries.
What happens when a moderately religious young adult Zoroastrian migrates to another part of the world, such as North America? And furthermore, what are their chances of marrying another Parsi? His statistics are based on information from the Tehran Zoroastrian Anjuman — though it is quite likely that Indian Zoroastrian immigrants face a similar problem. Dividing the estimated 50,000 Zoroastrian population and an equal male/female ratio he assumes a 30 percent migration out of Iran of those in the 20-40 year age group. These add up to approximately 1,875 individuals of whom 1,500 (80 percent) are assumed to be single and seeking a Zoroastrian life partner.
Soroushian says that sociological studies indicate that if children migrate when they are less than 10 years old, they are able to completely assimilate and accept the identity and culture of the adopted land. However, those between the ages of 10 and 20 are left with a form of dual cultural identity and a confused sense of not belonging to either their home culture or that of the adopted country. These grow into SAZI – single adult Zoroastrian immigrant – who are most comfortable with others in similar circumstances.
Soroushian: the cost of migration
From a selected group of 20 Zoroastrians of Iranian heritage living in the United States, aged 20 to 40, 12 male, eight female, as the subject of his study, Soroushian found three males and four females married to Zoroastrians with the remaining 13 still single. Seven of the 20 had immigrated with their families when they were under the age of 10 and with one exception all the married ones belonged to this group. With only one exception, all the SAZIs were single even in the 40+ age group, the number who had migrated without their families being marginally higher.
Among the immigrants, because of the lack of religious support structures and/or parental guidance, Soroushian’s study found three categories of Zoroastrians — the non-religious, the moderately religious and the preponderate majority of the conceptually religious. For the conceptually religious, the definition of Zoroastrianism seems to be made of vague religious concepts and of mere association with other Zoroastrians like friends or family, with little or no participation in the required religious ceremonies, prayer sessions and educational opportunities. The majority of them are unable to convey the fundamental philosophies and principles of the religion to a non-Zoroastrian individual.
So how can the SAZI move forward? At the most basic level, the survival of any living religion is dependent on a positive birth to death ratio or via an active process of conversion. Hence the SAZI must decide whether he or she is committed to the continuance of the Zoroastrian faith.
If the answer is positive, the immigrant must undertake a conscious mission to educate him or herself in the tenets of the religion so as to effectively convey them to others and especially his or her children without relying on the support of the spouse. Once the immigrant is committed to the survival of the religion, he or she can consider any spouse who is open and willing to raise the children in the Zoroastrian faith.
Such self-supporting religious knowledge will allow the SAZI to remain independent of the possible lack of social or cultural support structures, diversify his/her choice of a mate and, hopefully, ensure the survival of the Zoroastrian religion into the future.