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Hahaha. Zoroastrianism isn't a "cult" (look up). It happens to predate Christianity and was the first religion to conceive of God as an "all good" being who was diametrically opposed to a negative "god." Judaism, and later Christianity, was influenced by the thinking of Zoroastrianism. It did pose equal rights for all, though that ideological belief probably does not play out in real life.
"Ahura Mazda is the beginning and the end, the creator of everything which can and cannot be seen, the Eternal, the Pure and the only Truth.
Some major Zoroastrian precepts:
* Equalism: Equality of all, irrespective of gender, race, or religion
* Respect and kindness towards all living things. Condemnation of the oppression of human beings, cruelty against animals and sacrifice of animals.
* Environmentalism: Nature is central to the practice of Zoroastrianism and many important Zoroastrian annual festivals are in celebration of nature: new year on the first day of spring, the water festival in summer, the autumn festival at the end of the season, and the mid-winter fire festival.
* Hard work and charity: Laziness and sloth are frowned upon. Zoroastrians are encouraged to part with a little of what would otherwise be their own.
* Loyalty and faithfulness to "family, settlement, tribe, and country."
Central to Zoroastrianism is the emphasis on moral choice, to choose between the responsibility and duty for which one is in the mortal world, or to abjure this duty and so facilitate the work of Dru. Similarly, predestination is rejected in Zoroastrian teaching. Humans bear responsibility for all situations they are in, and in the way they act to one another. Reward, punishment, happiness and grief all depend on how individuals live their life. Good transpires for those who do righteous deeds. Those who do evil have themselves to blame for their ruin. Zoroastrian morality is then be summed up in the simple phrase, "good thoughts, good words, good deeds" (Humata, Hukhta, Hvarshta in Avestan), for it is through these that Aisha is maintained and Dru is kept in check.
It was Achaemenid era (648?330 BCE) Zoroastrianism that later developed the abstract concepts of heaven, hell, personal and final judgment, all of which are only alluded to in the Gathas." - Taken from http://tastymorselsoflife.blogspot.com.
If you want to know more, log in to your schools library and search in the Journals. It looks like the JSTOR database has some articles on gender in Zoroastrianism and I imagine Emerald and Muse will as well. If you don't know how to access these databases, go in and ask a librarian to help you. Once you can access these treasure troves of knowledge, you'll never need any of us simpletons to answer your questions again.
Best of luck. Religion and gender is interesting.
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Are men and women treated equally with equal rights in Zoroastrianism ?
