The authorship of these files on cults has his or her own motivations for providing them a

    [Fredric Rice, The Skeptic Tank:  The authorship of these files on
    cults has his or her own motivations for providing them and will
    contain his or her own bias.  What I find typical is that
    individuals and organizations which report on cults are usually
    themselves a competition cult yet like to think of themselves as
    "a religion, not a cult."  In actual fact, _ALL_ religions are
    cults by the primary, secondary, and terciary usage definition of
    the term.  Some of the information you find here is inaccurate and
    contains urban legend -- take what you find with a grain of salt.
    If you wish to acquire a copy of the Law Enforcement Guide on
    Occult Crime, contact myself at frice@stbbs.com or at The Skeptic
    Tank (818) 335-9601 and I'll forward the address and information
    you need.]

Zoroastrianism

Founded by an Iranian called Zoroaster seven centuries before the
birth of Christ in what used to be Soviet Central Asia.

Spurned by his compatriots for what they considered the blasphemous
presumption of his monotheistic 'revelation', he returned to his
Iranian homeland where he managed to convert a king called Vishtaspa.
During the Islamic conquest of Persia, most of his followers were
forced out of the region, many of whom moved down to the west coast
of India. Today there are approximately 10,000 devout followers
leftin Iran and nearly as many in and around Bombay. (There is also
an immigrant Zoroastrian community in London, though no attempt is
made at recruiting followers from outside the movement.)

Zoroastrians are renowned for their tolerance towards other
religions as well as their support of the arts and education. They
wear a special undergarment as a symbol of purity.

Twenty-seven centuries after the death of its figurehead,
Zoroastrianism has graduated with honours from cult to recognised
world religion.

It's been around longer than Christianity.

        To comment about this Website, our paper and all
        associated articles, you can mail us at the Observer:
        bill@dial.pipex.com