Zoroastrianism: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

One of the oldest religions in history and in Ancient times the only major religion in the Middle East other than Judaism and polytheism. Its doctrine centers around an eternal war between Good (represented by '''Ahura Mazda''') and Evil (represented by '''Angra Mainyu''', or '''Ahriman'''). The former can be roughly equated with [[God]] but the latter is definitely '''[[Suspiciously Specific Denial|not]]''' [[Satan]], since [[Satan]] is a [[Fallen Angel|rebel angel/spirit/former prosecutor]] fighting his own creator (beginning open rebellion around the time the Persians were running things, [[Hijacked by Jesus|for some reason]]) - thus, [[Failure Is the Only Option]]. Ahriman is Ahura Mazda's uncreated [[Evil Counterpart]] and thus an equal or near-equal [[God of Evil]] who actually has a shot at the title (though akin to [[Satan]], [[Evil Will Fail|he will lose in the end anyway]]). Humans have free will, and they face their own personal version of the divine struggle, between Truth and the Lie. Based on one's actions in their struggle, they are either led to paradise (the word comes to us from Zoroastrianism) or hell. Interestingly, hell in Zoroastrianism is not eternal, but meant to reform people.