Freddie Mercury was a prominent Parsi.

One of the things that really interests me is how archaic and minority religions survive their various diasporas. AFP published a piece on how Parsis are using digital and social media technology to contact one another and bolster their religious identity. This can be anything from Zpeakerbox, an online zine for Zoroastrian youth to Facebook groups dedicated to Parsi cuisine. Prominent blogs like Parsi Khabar have a presence on Twitter. There’s even a Facebook-like social networking site for Zoroastrians called UshtaTeBook, named for the Zoroastrian benediction “Ushta Te”, although I wasn’t able to view it as entry is by invitation only (as was Facebook, originally).

One thing that struck me was the fact that, although Parsi sites often tried to include Irani Zoroastrians, just as often they were only interested in Parsis. There did not seem to be much of a presence, however, of similar Irani-centric sites. I wonder how much of this has to do with the relative population sizes of the different groups, or with Bombay being more of a technology hub than Iran. Anyone got any data?

Phil Hazlewood for AFP ‘Parsis use new technology to keep religion alive‘ (29/9/09)