Afghanistan Project CMS

<blockquote>&ldquo;Now the two primal Spirits, who reveal themselves in vision as Twins, are the Better and the Bad, in thought and word and action. And between these two the wise ones chose aright, the foolish not so.&rdquo; &ndash;From the Avesta, the holy text of Zoroastrianism</blockquote> <p>Zoroastrianism was one of the earliest monotheistic religions to be found in Afghanistan.</p> <p>Zoroaster was a priest of the Zoroastrian religion, which involved a duality&ndash;a struggle&ndash;between good and evil.</p> <p>People had the choice to either side with the good or to side with evil.</p> <p>The concept of free will, or choice, was new to religion at that time. Most ancient religions placed humans at the mercy of the gods &ndash; without any hope of changing the world. Zoroaster introduced the idea that humans had an ethical choice between bad and good.<br /> Hunsberger 004 on camera 02:07-02:10: Those are all the virtues of Zoroastrianism, and are built into the poetry and other literature that you see.</p> <p>The Avesta is the most important text in Zoroastrianism. It is a collection of hymns that were written, retold, and re-interpreted over hundreds of years. The Avesta describes how humans can choose good over evil through good thoughts, words, and deeds.&nbsp;</p> <p>Like any religion, Zoroastrianism changed over the centuries, during which water and fire became important symbols. Even today, Zoroastrians in Central Asia worship in fire temples and hold ceremonies in the presence of fire.</p> <p>Zoroastrianism remained a potent force in Afghanistan for centuries and there are residual elements of it today. The kind of duality that they brought in between good and evil, the monotheism that they practiced, did have an impact when Afghans started moving towards other monotheistic religions.</p> <p>In many ways, Zoroastrianism paved the way for the acceptance of other religions that centered around the worship of a single god--including Islam.</p> <p>&ldquo;Now the two primal Spirits, who reveal themselves in vision as Twins, are the Better and the Bad, in thought and word and action. And between these two the wise ones chose aright, the foolish not so.&rdquo; &ndash;From the Avesta, the holy text of Zoroastrianism</p> <p>Zoroastrianism was one of the earliest monotheistic religions to be found in Afghanistan. &nbsp;Zoroaster was a priest of the Zoroastrian religion, which involved a duality&ndash;a struggle&ndash;between good and evil. People had the choice to either side with the good or to side with evil.</p> <p>The concept of free will, or choice, was new to religion at that time. Most ancient religions placed humans at the mercy of the gods--without any hope of changing the world. Zoroaster introduced the idea that humans had an ethical choice between bad and good.</p> <p>Those are all the virtues of Zoroastrianism, and are built into the poetry and other literature that you see.</p> <p>The Avesta is the most important text in Zoroastrianism. It is a collection of hymns that were written, retold, and interpreted over hundreds of years. The Avesta describes how humans can choose good over evil through good thoughts, words, and deeds.</p> <p>Like any religion, Zoroastrianism changed over the centuries, during which water and fire became important symbols. Even today, Zoroastrians in Central Asia worship in fire temples and hold ceremonies in the presence of fire. &nbsp;</p> <p>Zoroastrianism remained a potent force in Afghanistan for centuries and there are residual elements of it today. The kind of duality that they brought in between good and evil, the monotheism that they practiced, did have an impact when Afghans started moving towards other monotheistic religions.</p> <p>In many ways, Zoroastrianism paved the way for the acceptance of other monotheistic religions that would later come to this region, including Islam.</p>