All of this is from a New York Times article on Zoroastrianism, altough I also learnt about it in Philosphy:
-It also was the first monothesitic religion, and I think prehaps Judiasm, Christianity, and Islam borrowed heavily from it.
-People cannot convert to Zoroastrianism, altough the priests are looking to change that rule, due to lowing numbers.
-Anyone can go to the Zoroastrianism verison of Heaven, even if you are not a Zoroastrian (Hence the lowering numbers). As long as you are a follower of Good, and not of Evil, you get a free pass.
From my philosphy class:
-Zoroastrianism's dualisit message: "There is a battle between Good and Evil, and those who are Good will be rewarded and those who are Evil will be punished" is very easy for people to understand, hence why it was once very popular in the Middle East, and why Judisam, Christianty, and Islam plagrizied from it.
-It was the offical religion of the Persian Empire and its fortunes risen and fallen based on the fate of that Empire...which is why Zoroastrianism suffered after the Muslims invaded and destroyed the Persian Empire. The teacher concluded that all all these 'dualistic' religions usually need to tie themselves to an empire or at least a nation, because the Empire can use the religion to justify its existence, and the Religion can use the Empire's resources to spread its message.
From General Studies:
-Zoroastrianism's tolerance for other creeds is what caused for the Persian Empire, once they destroyed Babylon, to let the Jews return back to their homelands.
Full Article Here
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