An Interfaith View: Quakers and Zoroastrians In March 2014 a small

An Interfaith View: Quakers and Zoroastrians
In March 2014 a small group from Dacorum Interfaith Network took up an invitation from the
Zoroastrian Centre for Europe to pay a visit to its fire-temple in Rayners Lane, North London. The
temple is housed in a converted Art Deco cinema and is the only Zoroastrian place of worship in
Europe - it’s well worth a visit!
The ancient and elemental faith with its masked and robed priests and ceremonies involving sacred
fire may appear very different from plain Quakerism but some underlying philosophical similarities
may be revealed.
Monotheistic Zoroastrians and Quakers share a similar belief in ‘that of God in every human being’. The
symbol of Zoroastrianism is the farohar - representing ‘Divinity within Humanity” which is described as “a
guardian spirit leading the soul on its journey towards the ultimate triumph of good over evil”.
Like Quakers, Zoroastrians do not proselytize. So their growth has been limited and their profile in the
major world faith landscape has remained low, while their influence as a community on the civil
societies in which they live has been marked.
The quintessence of Zoroastrian teaching is, “Good thoughts, Good deeds and Good words”. Like
Quakers, Zoroastrians strive towards justice, and embrace progress; social, technological and
spiritual. Just as Quakers amassed wealth as leaders in 18th and 19th Century British industrial
revolution, the Iranian/Parsi followers of Zoroaster have built a formidable reputation in the global
business of the 20th and 21st Century. Their success derives from a reputation for honesty and
service in pursuit of a Zoroastrian ideal of a just society that goes back as far as the second
millennium before Christ. The most famous contemporary Zoroastrians are the steel magnate Tata
brothers, owners of Jaguar LandRover. The most iconic industrial Quakers were the Barclays and the
Cadburys.
Zoroastrians have been wrongly characterised as ‘fire worshippers’. The devotional practices of the
Zoroastrians are prayers and rituals which are solemnised by the presence of the fire which is
revered as a visible symbol of the 'Inner Light' that burns in every heart. Quakers also talk of ‘The
Light’ which is revered as an inner spiritual experience, but is not worshipped. Both religions reject
icons and deities.
“A typical modern Quaker meeting house interior”
Zoroastrians are similar in number to Quakers globally. There are 200,000 recorded Zoroastrians
around the world (compared to 350,000 + Quakers), most of whom are found in their ‘homeland’ of
origin - the Kingdom of Bactria - now Iran, and India (this group known as Parsis). The highest
number of Zoroastrian settlers are found in USA (11,000) and there are 5000 in Great Britain and just
1000 in mainland Europe.
The most common recognisable Zoroastrian/Parsi surname is ‘Mehta’ but, thanks to the role of the
Parsis as trusted administrators of the British Empire in India, if you ever meet someone called Mr/s
Engineer, Writer or Contractor, they are more likely to be Parsi than Quaker.
Suzanne Watts Quaker, representative to the DIN