In response to Dastur (Dr) Firoze Kotwal’s rejoinder "Preserving our traditions,” to my article "Clergy wary of change” (Parsiana, January 7-20, 2025), I would like to address some of the points he has made.
Kotwal writes, "We have preserved our priestly traditions, the genealogy of our priestly traditions and our ritual practices which have their roots in the Sasanian period.” That is precisely the point I made that our religion, as practiced today, is based on the beliefs and practices of the Sasanian era. These practices and beliefs must be rooted in Zarathushtra’s teachings and not in those formulated by some Sasanian priest or monarch.
Traditions and rituals have a place in our religion. Traditions established due to the exigencies of time must be dispensed with for us to bring our great religion back to the founding principles given to us by Zarathushtra. Furthermore, I respectfully state that just because we have been doing something for a long time does not mean what we are doing is right.
In a religious context, a conservative is defined as one who "conserves.” A liberal is one who amends and alters for some expediency. We should be true conservatives and conserve Zarathushtra’s teachings as he gave them to us and not deviate from them irrespective of any admiration for a king or a priest of a bygone era. MEHERYAR N. RIVETNA
Houston, USA
mrivetna@comcast.net