Zoroastrianism and sexual orientation Zoroastrianism and sexual orientation Homosexuality in Zoroastrianism is, as in many other religions, a controversial topic. The most sacred scripture of Zoroastrianism is called the Avesta. The oldest portion of the Avesta are the writings of Zarathustra himself and called the Gathas. Traditionalist Zoroastrians argue that the Vendidad, one of the books of the Avesta, is an inherent part of Zoroastrian oral tradition even if it was compiled far later than other parts of the Avesta. This passage has been interpreted to mean that homosexuality is a form of demon worship, and thus sinful. Ancient commentary on this passage suggests
Sacred but of complementarity, as the profane is viewed as a hierophany. French sociologist Émile Durkheim considered the dichotomy between the sacred and the profane to be the central characteristic of religion: "religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to "sacred things", that is to say, things set apart and forbidden." In Durkheim's theory, the sacred represented the interests of the group, especially unity, which were embodied in sacred group symbols, or totems. The profane, on the other hand, involved mundane individual concerns. Durkheim explicitly stated that the dichotomy sacred/profane was not equivalent to good/evil. The sacred could