A Parsi Zoroastrian family from Gujarat (image courtesy Livemint)
I have Alexander Patico at Orthodox Peace Fellowship to thank for this one!
Reminding us (as we all ought to be reminded at this time) that the Magi who visited Jesus in the Gospel of S. Matthew were Iranian Zoroastrians, he very kindly posted an excerpt from the Zoroastrian sacred scripture Avesta which does more than hint at a complementary pro-life ethic which makes responsibility for caring for children familial first, but secondly the social responsibility of the child’s neighbours and the community of believers more generally. Here is the quote, from the Vendidad 15, verses 13-19:
‘If a man come near unto a damsel, either dependent on the chief of the family or not dependent, either delivered [unto a husband] or not delivered, and she conceives by him, and she says, “I have conceived by thee;” and he replies, “Go then to the old woman and apply to her for one of her drugs, that she may procure thee miscarriage;”
‘And the damsel goes to the old woman and applies to her for one of her drugs, that she may procure her miscarriage; and the old woman brings her some Banga, or Shaeta, a drug that kills in the womb or one that expels out of the womb, or some other of the drugs that produce miscarriage and [the man says], “Cause thy fruit to perish!” and she causes her fruit to perish; the sin is on the head of all three, the man, the damsel, and the old woman.
‘If a man come near unto a damsel, either dependent on the chief of the family or not dependent, either delivered [unto a husband] or not delivered, and she conceives by him, so long shall he support her, until the child be born.
‘If he shall not support her, so that the child comes to grief, for want of proper support, he shall pay for it the penalty for wilful murder.’
O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If she be near her time, which is the worshipper of Mazda that shall support her?
Ahura Mazda answered: ‘If a man come near unto a damsel, either dependent on the chief of the family or not dependent, either delivered [unto a husband] or not delivered, and she conceives by him, so long shall he support her, until the child be born.
‘If he shall not support her ... It lies with the faithful to look in the same way after every pregnant female.’
No comments:
Post a Comment