Our community will continue to decrease in numbers and eventually cease to exist in the future unless we take some concrete steps. We have to either choose between strictly following our religious beliefs or saving our community from possible extinction in the future. The religion existing within reasonable limits is practically better than not having any religion left at all.
The children of outmarried Parsi fathers and mothers should doubtlessly be considered as Zoroastrians. Our religion is not so fragile to get "impure” so easily (just by living with people from another faith after marriage). The only aspect that matters is how devoted a person is to his/her religion. All other aspects are just materialistic. Our outlook towards religious issues needs to change for the sake of our own well-being.
It is not practical to be absolutely rigid about following our religious beliefs and putting our community’s future existence in danger. At the same time, it is irrational to adopt an extremely liberal and reformist approach. The ideal way would be to opt for a moderate/reasonable path with a little compromise by both. Only then can a consensus between the two be achieved and this long-standing dispute be permanently resolved.
Let us all forgo our rigidity and be a bit receptive and gracefully accept a slight change in the age-old practices for the sake of the well-being and future of our community. Let us all hope that some good sense prevails and our differences are amicably sorted out and our Zoroastrian community prospers and survives till the end of time.
KAIZAD B. IRANI
Poona
kaizu.bawaji@gmail.com