On May 24th, 2017 The Washington Post published an opinion authored by George F. Will titled “ If Ossoff wins in Georgia, Trump is in for a world of pain in 2018 “.

The piece invoked Prophet Zarathushtra but in a very outlandish way.

FEZANA waited till the run-off elections in Georgia were over, and then wrote to the Editor of Washington Post, requesting them to correct the errors in the piece. Below is the text of that letter.

June 20, 2017

A Letter to the Editor

The Washington Post
1301 K Street NW
Washington DC 20071

Dear Editor,

Re: George Will’s ‘Opinion’, May 24, 2017, Washington Post, specific to the Georgia 6 congressional run-off special election.

The context in which George Will invoked ‘Zarathustra’ in this column struck many of my fellow Zoroastrians as strangely outlandish. Typically, we expect Washington Post opinion pieces to be thoughtful and erudite, regardless of point of view. So it was disconcerting to find such a haphazard reference to our prophet by a commentator of George Will’s stature and place in society as one of our respected and foremost thinkers.

Perhaps what he had in mind is the entirely fictive character spun by Nietzsche. The real prophet, whose deep faith, renowned philosophy and sweeping teachings my people have followed for millennia, gave no impression of ‘preening’ as Mr. Will strangely describes.

The real Zarathustra, even as interpreted through the mists of antiquity and reiterations of history, was a humble and gentle soul promoting the ultimate triumph of good over evil, right from wrong, and hardly preoccupied with preening. In observing the current news cycle, we actually stand much to gain by paying more attention to legacy of the prophet Zarathushtra.

Thank you for considering our note of dissent.

Homi D. Gandhi
President

Federation of Zoroastrian Associations of North America (FEZANA)