The Lord of Wisdom
Bring Back the Zoroastrians
As a teller of timeless tales that span the whole of human history, the world’s people interest me. Whatever their culture is, underneath it all, they are a part of the human race, which is the only race I recognize.
When it comes to the history of humanity, I don’t see history repeating so much as I see that human beings are creatures of habit. They get caught up in their era with its environment. So the current madness many of us see, and worry over, does portend to something coming our way. However, we have been there and done that. As Solomon said, there is nothing new under the sun.
I wonder what Solomon would say about our technology? But I digress.
What is coming our way is anyone’s guess. I hear all sorts of theories; from space rock, NASA says there are a few that could come our way; to war, of the nuclear kind; disease, which is not a huge threat, but who knows; and then there is that threatened revolution. Whatever it is, we won’t like it, that is a certainty.
Last week, I came across a Tucker conversation with Jeffrey Sachs. Of economics and worldly concerns, Sachs is a guy who has done much and seen much. Ergo, it was a fascinating 2 hours. Sachs is mightily concerned with all the on-going saber rattling interspersed with actual wars. He does not like that America plays the world’s bully. I agree with him there. For eventually, the world’s bully gets its comeuppance. That is never pretty.
Sachs talked about Iran, and our treatment of that nation. That is not pretty either. Americans like to think of them as the big bad wolf. And they are a pain in the you know where. But, and if you are a conservative or a neocon, you won’t like this, America has also been arrogant. Ditto Britain. Indeed, so much of what is wrong with the Middle East the Anglo-Saxon people are responsible for it. We English speaking people have interfered plenty in the politics of others. And we did it because we could. But eventually, the rest of the world gets tired of it. And they interfere back.
Iran is interfering back.
As a universalist-meaning friendly to all-the only side to take is one of Peace, Prosperity and No Aggression. Newton’s Law, of action-reaction, rules. If you aggress, you get slapped in the face. Which is contrary to what Jesus said we should do, of turning the other cheek. Jesus knows the laws of physics, so he is asking us to upset the universe by not giving in to aggression.
That is a heavy load. Though it does prove that America is not a Christian nation in practice, but in culture alone.
Back to Iran. Once upon a time, it was Persia, and they were huge, strong, and so forth. Like the West does now, the Persians interfered in other nations, as they conquered and bullied their way around the Mediterranean, plus all across the Middle East, well, you get the picture. Persia got its real comeuppance when Alexander showed up. They did come back, but then in the 7th century the Arabs, now united with their new religion, showed up. For decades Iran fought, until they succumbed. And Islam replaced their former religion; Zoroastrianism. And their god, Ahura Mazda was tossed in favor of Allah, aka, the God of Abraham.
Listening to Sachs stimulated the old memory banks. Years back, I did much research on Persia. Iran hasn’t forgotten those roots. They still carry a grudge against the Arabs. Indeed, if you meet an Iranian, they will remind you that they are not Arabs. We are well aware they carry a grudge against us. Sachs reminded me that the relationship with Iran turned sour when those arrogant bastards in Britain, and in our state department, arranged a coup to overthrow the elected president in 1953.1 We should not forget that because Iran’s leaders haven’t. Why else would they need nukes? Who knows, they may wear little hats that say, MIGA, “Make Iran Great Again.”
I do believe Iran’s dour leaders hate us so much, that they would destroy their own people, to get us. This goes beyond Islam. But radical Islam makes for an excuse. Certainly the women of Islam are the sufferers because the old men don’t want the young women looking and behaving as Westerners.
Well, we didn’t heed what the founders told us, which is not to get involved in the politics of other countries.
On the other hand, this radical form of Islam does not help things at all any which way you look at it. It just gets everyone mired down in that same shit, different day approach.
Can we get a new idea here? Well yes, here is one. Iran’s success came when they worshiped a different god. Why not revisit him? Since Iran doesn’t like Arabs to begin with, why take on their god? They took the first step when they switched to being Shiite from Sunni. Now that is such a waste of time. Why not dump him if the only thing that god does for you, is to keep you down? Why not make a big, splashy return to Ahura Mazda, whose name means, Lord of Wisdom.
Now we’re talking. The Saudis would hate it that their religious faith had been tossed. But what a way to bite them back! And, in today’s world, there’s not much the Saudis could do about it. Methinks the rest of the world has had it with these destructive Islamic wars. ¡No más!
Just think how much millions of women would celebrate! Ahura Mazda doesn’t require that women be hidden away, or that their genitals be mutilated. 2
Zoroastrians are still with us. Perhaps there are 100,000 left in the world? In India, they are referred to as the Parsi. Many have now come to the United States.3
Anyone that refers to their god as the Lord of Wisdom has my full attention. And, this is really big, they don’t damn me for not following their god. It is what the world needs, wisdom. Then people will know, they will understand, that force, and bullying, brings on the savagery of conflict, as Newton’s law states. It gets us stuck in an ugly cycle of life, instead of allowing us to expand, peacefully, in our minds. We get back into the dread of sameness. The God of Abraham outlawed the one size fits all concept, when he scattered people by changing their language. Nature is a variety. It is the spice of life. Which means equity and equality are out. The wise understand that.
My imagination begins to run wild as I think about this god and Iran. What would the world say, after they sat up and took notice, that Iran no longer buys into the Arab upstart god, and are returning to their tradition? Which is to worship wisdom. After all, Ahura Mazda has staying power; he began as a polytheistic god, and then transferred to being a monotheistic god under the Zoroastrians. So what’s not to like?
The call to action here is easy. Let’s make Ahura Mazda known again.
others, F. Backhouse and. "1953 coup in Iran." Encyclopedia Britannica, February 12, 2024. https://www.britannica.com/event/1953-coup-in-Iran.
Niechciał P. Second-Generation Iranian Zoroastrians in a New American Homeland: A Case Study in California. Iranian Studies. 2022;55(4):1065-1082. doi:10.1017/irn.2022.8