Bactria and Zoroaster

Jonathan Huyck, a comparative religions specialist, comments on the posting about Zoroaster and his faith: "I have met Iranians (secular ones, mostly) who take great pains to distance themselves from the Arab world and even Islam. I have met some who have great affection for Zoroastrianism, although I'm not sure how much they really know about it, since there are so few left in Iran. A secular Iranian recently married a very wealthy American woman here in New York, and the wedding service was pseudo-Zoroastrian. I have wondered if young Iranians fed up with the current regime might turn to Zoroastrianism, but that would be challenging, as the faith does not accept converts, from what I understand. This has made marriage very difficult for Zoroastrians, who have turned to the internet for help in the matter (as, of course, have many other groups). I'm not sure how many Zoroastrians are left in the world, but I suspect less than a million. If Iranians were to turn to a non-Islamic faith, I suspect Baha'i is the more likely candidate, since it is also Persian in origin and, unlike Zoroastrianism, happily accepts converts. RH: Not accepting converts is odd, since Zoroaster converted millions of people. Moreover, the Iranians could say they are simply reverting to their ancient faith, Islam having ben imposed on them.