Published: April 10, 2009 12:16 am      

We are blessed in both place and time

Today, Christians celebrate the Resurrection of Christ, an event that reminds them of the desired ascent of their souls (following death) into heaven.

Each spring I teach a science and religion course where the class studies 10 global faiths, which includes the three Abrahamic faiths (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), the three Vedic faiths (Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism) and faiths of other traditions (Shintoism, Taoism, Sikhism and Baha’i).

The Vedic faiths hold that most souls are reincarnated into another being, perhaps a member of the same caste (level of society), or of a higher caste, a lower caste or an animal. What you are reincarnated as depends on your karma, the accumulation of good behavior and works in your present life and even your past lives. What is most desired by the Vedic faithful is release from the reincarnation cycle and union with the ultimate being (Brahman).

The two Far East religions (Shinto and Tao) revere ancestral spirits that roam around; these spirits are at peace if properly buried and deserve a place of honor in their home shrines.

The latest of the ten faiths, Baha’i, honors all previous religious figures and considers its scripture as the latest message from God. The Baha’i see a world government as the best way to restore equality among all.

In our interdisciplinary courses at Frostburg State, global awareness is crucial as we are all passengers of Spaceship Earth. But as Americans, we take for granted or demand many conveniences that are rare in the developing countries.

Last year, the U.S. consumed 102 quadrillion BTU. (A quadrillion is a billion million.) For a population of 306 million, this represents a power of 11,000 watts per person 24/7 for our homes, transport, industry and businesses. Another way of expressing U.S. energy per person is in terms of barrels of crude petroleum — 57.5 barrels per person each year.

Western Europeans and Japanese use about half as much energy per person. The developing countries, where a quarter of humans dwell, average about one barrel per person. So getting in our cars and driving anywhere in the Tri-State area would be only for the rich in developing African and Asian countries.

The average American diet is 3,300 calories per day versus a global average of 2,300 calories. In many developing countries, the average person gets by on less than 2000 Calories, making them much vulnerable to diseases and nature’s vicissitudes (storms, droughts, floods).

In addition, over two billion humans lack proper sanitation (toilets, latrines even of the community variety); in those areas, human waste is found in the streets and public areas. Some communities have scavengers (animals to eat the wastes or members of the lowest caste to remove them).

These wastes lead to contaminated drinking water, spawning infections in humans; diarrhea kills more than a million people a year. So being in a society where toilets of any kind (outhouses included) are the norm (rather than the exception) is a blessing. But even where toilets are common, waste often is dumped untreated into the local rivers.

As recently as the 1980s, Moscow’s untreated waste was being dumped into the Moscow River. In Manila today, untreated sewage makes up more half the flow of the Pasig River. These wastes require much oxygen to decompose; the lack of oxygen in the rivers’ waters results in the elimination of most aquatic life.

If we were to go back two centuries in time and visit our ancestors in Europe, Africa or Asia, we would be in for more surprises. The population of North America was then only 9 million versus Europe’s 200 million, Asia’s 600 million, Africa’s 100 million and Latin America’s 25 million.

In 1800, the human population was then about one seventh of the present 6.7 billion people. At the beginning of the Industrial Age, wastes were just thrown into local rivers; people felt then that this nasty stuff would be swept out to sea. In big cities, horse manure piles on the streets were a nuisance; one had to be careful where one stepped!

People living on upper apartments of a building often just tossed their wastes out of the windows; passers-by beware! Many private homes had cesspits in back where the chamber pots (where one relieved oneself before toilets) could be emptied.

Germs were unheard of; although early microscope pioneers had found ‘little beasties’ swimming around in pond water. When Queen Victoria moved to Buckingham Palace in 1837, there were no toilets inside! (Reference: “The New Green History of the World” by Clive Ponting, Penguin Books, 2007.)

Easter week skies

Tonight, the evening moon rises just before midnight. In the early evening, Orion and surrounding bright stars can be still be seen in the southwest. Orion’s three star belt points left to Sirius, the night’s brightest star.

This Wednesday in the 6 a.m. dawn, the planet Mars and the dull planet Uranus may be seen very low in the East within a moon width. Uranus at a distance of 1,868 million miles is only 1/76th as bright as Mars, then only 199 million miles away. Use binoculars to see both planets.

There are no Planetarium programs today due to Easter. Our programs will resume next Sunday. The Cumberland Astronomy Club will meet on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the LaVale Public Library. All interested sky gazers are invited.

Bob Doyle invites any reader’s comments or questions. Call him at (301) 68707799 or by email at rdoyle@frostburg.edu .