A Modern Zoroastrian

by S. Laing

In view of the approximation between the Zoroastrian religion and the forms of modern thought it is interesting to note how the former works among its adherents in actual practice. For, after all, the practical side of a religion is more important than its speculative or philosophical theories. Thus, for instance, the Quakers have a faith which is about the most reasonable of any of the numerous sects of Christianity and nearest to the spirit of its Founder, and yet Quakerism remains a narrow sect which is far from being victorious in the ‘struggle for life,’ Mahometanism, again, while dying out among civilised nations, shows itself superior to Christianity in the work of raising the barbarous, fetish-worshipping negroes of Africa to a higher level. And Mormonism, based on the most obvious imposture and absurdity, is the only new religion which, in recent times, has taken root and to a certain extent flourished.

Tried by this test, Zoroastrianism has made good its claim to be called the ‘excellent religion.’ Its followers, the limited community of Parsees in India, are honourably distinguished for probity, intelligence, enterprise, public spirit, benevolence, tolerance, and other good qualities. By virtue of these qualities they have raised themselves to a prominent position in our Indian empire, and take a leading part in its commerce and industrial enterprise. The chief shipbuilder at Bombay, the first great native railway contractor, the founder of cotton factories, are all Parsees, and they are found as merchants, traders, and shopkeepers in all the chief towns of British India, and distant places such as Aden and Zanzibar. Their commercial probity is proverbial, and, as in England, they have few written agreements, the word of a Parsee, like that of an Englishman, being considered as good as his bond. Their high character and practical aptitude for business are attested by the fact that the first mayor, or chairman of the Corporation of Bombay, was a Parsee who was elected by the unanimous vote both of Europeans and natives.

The position of women affords perhaps the best test of the real civilisation and intrinsic worth of any community. Where men consider women as inferior creatures it is a sure proof that they themselves are so. They are totally wanting in that delicacy and refinement of nature which distinguishes the true gentleman from the snob or the savage, and are coarse, vulgar brutes, however disguised under a veneer of outward polish. On the other hand, respect for women implies self-respect, nobility of nature, capability of rising to high ideals above the sordid level of animal appetite and the selfish supremacy of brute force.

The Parsees in this respect stand high, far higher than any other Oriental people, and on a level with the best European civilisation. The equality of the sexes is distinctly laid down in the Zoroastrian scriptures. Women are always mentioned as a necessary part of the religious community. They have the same religious rites as the men. The spirits of deceased women are invoked as well as those of men. Long contact with the other races of India, and the necessity for some outward conformity to the practices of Hindoo and Mahometan rulers, did something to impair the position of females as regards public appearances, though the Parsee wife and mother always remained a principal figure in the Parsee household; and latterly, under the security of English rule, Parsee ladies may be seen everywhere in public, enjoying just as much liberty as the ladies of Europe or America. Nor are they at all behind their Western sisters in education, accomplishments, and, it may be added, in daintiness of fashionable attire. In fact, an eager desire for education has become a prominent feature among all classes of the Parsee community, and they are quite on a par with the Scotch, German, and other European races in their efforts to establish schools, and in the numbers who attend, and especially of those who obtain distinguished places in the higher schools and colleges, such as the Elphinstone Institute and the Bombay University. Female education is also actively promoted, and no prejudices stand in the way of attendance at the numerous girls’ schools which have been established, or even of studying in medical colleges, where Parsee women attend lectures on all branches of medical science along with male students. Those who know the position of inferiority and seclusion in which women are kept among all other Oriental nations can best appreciate the largeness and liberality of spirit of a religion which, in spite of all surrounding influences, has rendered such a thing possible in such a country as India.

Another prominent trait of the Parsee character is that of philanthropy and public spirit. In proportion to their numbers and means they raise more money for charitable objects than any other religious sect. And they raise it in a way which does the greatest credit to their tolerance and liberality. For instance, the Parsees were the principal subscribers to a fund raised in Bombay in aid of the ‘Scottish Corporation,’ and quite recently a Parsee gentleman gave 16,000l. towards the establishment of a female hospital under the care of lady doctors, although the benefit of such an institution would be confined principally to Mahometan and Hindoo women, Parsee women having no prejudice against employing male doctors.

The public spirit shown by acts like this is the trait by which the Parsee community is most honourably distinguished, and in respect of which it must be candidly confessed it far surpasses not only other Oriental races, but most European nations, including our own. Whatever the reason may be, the fact is certain that in England, while a great deal of money is spent in charity, lamentably little is spent from the enormous surplus wealth of the country on what may be called public objects. There is neither religious influence nor social opinion brought to bear on the numerous class who have incomes far beyond any possible want, to teach them that it should be both a pleasure and a pride to associate their names with some act of noble liberality. A better spirit we may hope is springing up, and there have been occasional instances of large sums applied to public purposes, such as parks and colleges, by private individuals, principally of the trading and manufacturing classes, such as the Salts, Crossleys, Baxters, and Holloways; but on the whole the amount contributed is miserably small. It is probably part of the price we pay for aristocratic institutions that those who inherit or accumulate great fortunes consider it their primary object to perpetuate or to found great families. Be this as it may, a totally different spirit prevails among the Parsees of Bombay, where it has been truly stated that hardly a year passes without some wealthy Parsee coming forward to perform a work of public generosity. The instance of Sir Jamsedjee Jijibhoy, who attained a European reputation for his noble benevolence, is only one conspicuous instance out of a thousand of this ‘public spirit’ which has become almost an instinctive element in Parsee society.

How far the large and liberal religion may be the cause of the large and liberal practice, it is impossible to say. Other influences have doubtless been at work. The Parsees are a commercial people, and commerce is always more liberal with its money than land. They are the descendants of a persecuted race, and as a rule it is better to be persecuted than to persecute. Still, after making all allowances, it remains that the tree cannot be bad which bears such fruits; the religion must be a good one which produces good men and women and good deeds.

Statistical facts testify quite as strongly to the high standard of the Parsee race, and the practical results which follow from the observance of the Zoroastrian ritual. A small death-rate and a large proportion of children prove the vigorous vitality of a race. The Parsees have the lowest death-rate of any of the many races who inhabit Bombay. The average for the two years 1881 and 1882 per thousand was for Hindoos 26·11; for Mussulmans 30·46; for Europeans 20·18; for Parsees 19·26. The percentage of children under two years old to women between fifteen and forty-five was 30·27 for Parsees, as against Hindoos 22·24, and Mussulmans 24·9, showing incontestably greater vitality and greater care for human life.

Of 6,618 male and 2,966 female mendicants in the city of Bombay, only five male and one female were Parsees.

These figures speak for themselves. It is evident that a religion in which such results are possible cannot be unfavourable to the development of the ‘mens sana in corpore sano;’ and that, although we may not turn Zoroastrians, we may envy some of the results of a creed which inculcates worship of the good, the pure, and the beautiful in the concerns of daily life, as well as in the abstract regions of theological and philosophical speculation.