Zarathustra on Good and Evil

            Zarathustra founded Zoroastrianism after a ten year journey.  Zoroastrianism dealt with the clash of the supreme god, Ahura Mazda, against the pure evil spirit named Angra Mainu.  These two titans would judge humans based upon their life in the material world; if they were good, they went to paradise.  And if they behaved badly, then they were sent to a hellish world.  Zarathustra assumed that nearly everybody, if not everybody, constantly was aware of the afterlife.  Zoroastrianism emphasized the importance of the material world; it was a gift from Ahura Mazda that was created for humans to enjoy everything pleasurable in moderation.  This makes the physical appear as a temporary opportunity to experience pleasure; some could have indulged in the physical world because the afterlife could be lacking in these opportunities.

            Zarathustra assumed that the issue of right and wrong did not have a gray area.  There could be many situations in which a good deed for someone is a bad moral choice for another.  If a family is suffering, the son could take steal some food for the family; he would be doing a good deed for his family.  To others, the son was observing low moral standards.  Also, some things could seem negligible for some, but it could change the lives of others.  Raising taxes by the slightest amount might only yield small difference, but it could drive the payers to doing unethical things.  The higher-ups wouldn’t know what kind of issues they brought about and would not think if they committed a foul act, but the evil-doer would have had no other option.