Editing Homosexuality and religion (section)

===Zoroastrianism===
{{main|Zoroastrianism and sexual orientation}}
{{Rquote|left| The man that lies with mankind as man lies with womankind, or as woman lies with mankind, is a man that is a Daeva [demon]; this man is a worshipper of the Daevas, a male paramour of the Daevas|[[Vendidad]]}}

The [[Vendidad]], one of the later [[Zoroastrian]] texts composed in the Artificial Young [[Avestan language]], has not been dated precisely. It is thought that some concepts of law, uncleanliness, [[Dualistic cosmology|dualism]], and [[salvation]] were shared between the religions, and subsequent interactions between the religions are documented by events such as the release of the Jews from the [[Babylonian captivity]] by Zoroastrian [[Cyrus the Great]] in 537&nbsp;BC, and the Biblical account of the [[Magi]] visiting the infant [[Jesus]].

The Vendidad generally promotes procreation: "the man who has a wife is far above him who lives in continence; he who keeps a house is far above him who has none; he who has children is far above the childless man; he who has riches is far above him who has none." It details the penance for a worshipper who submits to [[sodomy]] under force as "Eight hundred stripes with the Aspahe-astra, eight hundred stripes with the Sraosho-charana." (equal to the penalty for breaking a contract with the value of an ox),<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.avesta.org/vendidad/vd4sbe.htm |title=AVESTA: VENDIDAD (English): Fargard 4. Contracts and offenses. |translator-first=James |translator-last=Darmesteter |date=1995 |website=Avesta |access-date=January 27, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230201184412/http://www.avesta.org/vendidad/vd4sbe.htm |archive-date=February 1, 2023}}</ref> and declares that for those participating voluntarily "For that deed there is nothing that can pay, nothing that can atone, nothing that can cleanse from it; it is a trespass for which there is no atonement, for ever and ever". However, those not practicing the [[Ahura Mazda|Religion of Mazda]] were pardoned for past actions upon conversion.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.avesta.org/vendidad/vd8sbe.htm |title=AVESTA: VENDIDAD (English): Chapter 8: Funerals and purification, unlawful sex |translator-last=Darmesteter |translator-first=James |date=1995 |website=Avesta |access-date=January 27, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230201184410/http://www.avesta.org/vendidad/vd8sbe.htm |archive-date=February 1, 2023}}</ref> It has been argued that, in ancient times, those prohibitions against sodomy did not apply to [[eunuch]]s.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Donaldson |first1=Stephen |last2=Dynes |first2=Wayne |title=Homosexuality in the Ancient World |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=1992 |isbn=9780815305460 |page=153}}</ref>