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Series:
Personal Perspective
Source:
Zareen
Hakim
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Growing up as a Zarathushti in
America has been one of the
most beneficial and challenging aspects of my life. My sister and I were
brought up like most Americans, but with a beautiful twist of Indian and
Iranian cultures, given to us by our parents and ancestors. Throughout my
life, this cultural diversity has sparked many questions from my peers as to
“what I was” or “where I was from”. I’m sure that the North American
Zarathushti youth of today can relate, and it is this issue of our time that
I wish to explore in this article. In conjunction, I wish to emphasize how
Zarathustra’s vision is at the root of our strength as a people, and allows
us to maintain the same “religious identity”, if not the same “cultural
identity”.
Always having to explain my
heritage to others and not having them understand or recognize my ethnicity
or religion, was often a source of frustration for me. It was confusing
because I, myself, didn’t know everything about Zarathushtrianism or the
origins of our traditions, and because there were so many inconsistencies in
what people believed. As a child, I would think, “Am I Indian because my
parents are from India? No wait, I’m just as American as any of my
classmates are. Then again, I’m Parsee, too…”. I was proud of my roots and
wanted to give people an accurate description, but while I attempted to do
so, I was never truly content with my responses.
As I grew older, I realized
that I was crafted from all of these pieces, and that my identity was viewed
differently, depending on the circumstances. Am I American? Yes. Am I
Indian? Racially, no, but culturally, somewhat. Am I Iranian? Racially,
yes, but culturally, not exactly. Am I also a Zarathushti? Yes. These
realizations forced me to learn more about my various identities in order to
properly explain them to curious individuals as well to myself. More so, it
allowed me to separate my “culture” from my “religion”, a difficult but
necessary thing to do when this level of diversity surrounds a new
generation.
While the rise of cultural
and racial diversity seems to be challenging the growth of our small
Zarathushti community, I don’t think it should be. For example, the Parsees
who fled Iran adopted different cultures, but maintained the practice of the
common Iranian religion. In the same sense, Zarathushtrianism has been
maintained and even spread in
North America and other parts of the world, despite the change in
cultural orientation and the rise of ethnically mixed marriages.
What does this mean? It
means that Zarathushtrianism can flourish, despite these changes. It means
that one does not have to be brought up in
Iran
or India to be able to practice Zarathushtrianism. Furthermore, it means
that people of different ethnicities can adopt Zarathushtrianism as their
religion if they choose to. The beauty of Zarathustra’s vision is that it
allows us and others to thrive in all environments. It is a religion of
tolerance, equality, acceptance, compassion, and most of all, CHOICE. It
allows a person, ANY person, to choose his/her own path through the use of
Vohu Mana, which according to the Gathas, has been bestowed upon ALL
humankind.
There is strength in
cultural and ethnic diversity – strength in others carrying out
Zarathustra’s universal message. If we look to the Gathas, embrace the core
elements of our religion, Zarathustra’s vision has the power to unite across
all levels. I hope that we as a community will one day recognize that this
vision is a gift to humanity, and that it can bring light to all where there
is darkness. After all, isn’t that what Zarathushtrianism is all about?
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