There are many examples of inspirations in history. Sometimes it comes with a dream, as it happened to famous chemist, Friedrich Kekule (1829-1896), helping him to make one of the most amazing discoveries of his time. He saw atoms in his dream whirling, dancing and reassembling themselves in a snake-like motion, and the snake snapping its own tail. This dream provided him with the inspiration to discover the benzene ring. Benzene, a colorless and highly flammable liquid, is an important industrial solvent in the production of drugs, plastics, and dyes. Kekule is not the only person who found inspiration to an important question in his dream. For example, Otto Loewi, a famous German scientist, was inspired by a dream about an experiment that became the foundation for the theory of chemical transmission of the nervous impulse and led to a Nobel Prize. Once you contemplate on a question long enough, it becomes an important part of your life. You start seeing things in a different way, and everything becomes related to that question.

Ten years ago, a close friend of mine asked me a very interesting question. He said, “Did you ever read or witness any inspiration from Holy Scriptures, like the Qur’an, pointing to the Internet? After this question, I started to think deeply about the texts I had read, or the things I saw in my environment, and selected my readings more carefully. This helped me to capture more inspirations from my life.

It did not take long for me to relate many verses from scriptures to the question posed by my friend. It was an easy process to go backwards from the result to the possible starting ideas (verses). The hard thing about inspiration is that both the starting point and the result are unknown. Once we know the result that we wanted to achieve, it is easy to relate many things and find similarities around us that might get us to the same point. This can be either a scientific fact or a religious belief.

The relationship between science and religion, and inspirations from scriptures are the two most common controversial topics. Science and religion are the two strongest forces influencing humans. Some people use science to justify religious claims, while others start from religious information to reach unknown scientific points. Both approaches have many challenges, and may lead to consequences that conflict with one’s belief. Scriptures can help us think outside of the box, and provide many inspirations for science. However, it is important to keep the balance between both worlds, while working hard on understanding science and building our faith on a solid ground.

So, how did I find the verses that pointed to the idea of the Internet in the Scriptures? I started to think of the core properties that make up the Internet. What will be my first words if I wanted to define the Internet? Some of the key definitions or features of the Internet that came to my mind was “a world-wide network of computers,” “connecting people to each other,” “storing or accessing world of information,” “removing physical boundaries,” “easy and cheap communication,” or “freedom of speech.”

Which feature of the Internet would sound too intricate to ever exist a thousand years ago? Probably, the possibility of storing and accessing all the information available throughout the history of mankind would be the most challenging feature. We haven’t reached that point with the Internet yet, but so much ground has been covered towards this goal. Let’s see how much progress is made on this road of storage and retrieval.

Wikipedia, a free web-based multilingual encyclopedia project, has over 22 million articles (over four million in the English Wikipedia). There are roughly 40 million books in US libraries. Google is building the largest online library in the history of the world, and already scanned over 20 million books. ISI Web of Knowledge, an online scientific database, is a source for thousands of journals with millions of articles published from 1900s to present. Everything published in the last couple of centuries becoming available online from handwritten books to newspaper archives, magazines, and journals.

Chemistry databases list information (e.g. structures, spectra, reactions, syntheses, and thermo-physical data) for tens of millions of organic and inorganic compounds known to man that are used in various industries. Biological databases provide information (e.g. gene sequences, textual descriptions, attributes and ontology classifications, citations, and tabular data) for living and even extinct organisms.

Besides the published information, other types of data from various types of arts, music and picture libraries are becoming an important part of the Internet. More and more museums provide virtual galleries that make all paintings, sculptures and other art pieces accessible to remote users. E-government projects make personal records, health and financial data of all citizens available to related parties. More personal information is available online through personal blogs, image galleries, video sharing, and discussion forums.

Could you make a person, fifty years or even fourteen hundred years ago, believe that one day all the information would be available in a book, a box or a device? This was my starting point to find clues about the Internet in the scriptures. This journey led to many interesting ideas and understanding of my environment. In the middle of the search, the Holy Qur’an provided an important message to summarize this journey:

“With clear arguments and scriptures; and We have revealed to you the Reminder, that you may explain clearly to men what is sent for them, and that they may think and reflect.” (Qur’an 16:44)

As an explanation to this verse, Ibn Mas`ud, the sixth person to embrace Islam, said “[Allah] made it clear that in this Qur’an there is complete knowledge of and about everything.” The Holy Qur’an contains many verses about events in the past and future, what is lawful and unlawful, and information about the religion, our life in this world, and our destiny in the afterlife. Divinely inspired Scriptures, Prophets, and laws were sent successively, in part as an assurance of the true knowledge.

Fethullah Gülen, a Turkish Muslim scholar, lists the types of knowledge and understanding as follows; “… that is based on beholding or actively seeing something, inner (comprehensive knowledge) or outer (description and measurement), implementation of the lesser understanding (technology) or of the spiritual understanding (contemplation and worship, which yield wisdom), learning and teaching, self-based or other-based, the learner’s or teacher’s belief in independence of action or being, and of the believer’s surrender and trust to the Creator …” [1]. We need to learn how to “read” the universe and scriptures consciously to acquire true understanding and wisdom.

My search for the inspiration for an idea of the Internet led me to find many verses from the Holy Qur’an. Here are some of the verses that I personally think is a starting point to inspire the idea of storing all the information known to mankind.

“… there is not a grain in the darkness (or depths) of the earth, nor anything fresh or dry (green or withered), but is (inscribed) in a clear record (to those who can read)” (Qur’an 6:59)

“… nor is hidden from the Lord (so much as) the weight of an atom on the earth or in heaven. And not the smallest and not the greatest of these things but are recorded in a clear record” (Qur’an 10:61)

“… and there is nothing hidden, in heaven or earth, but is (recorded) in a clear record” (Quran 27:75)

These verses can be interpreted in different ways. Some scholars refer these verses to the knowledge of the All-Knowing God, or a book called Lawh al-Mahfuz that stores the information on the destiny of mankind. Actually relating these verses with the Internet, and the traditional interpretations have a very interesting connection. With ever-growing capacity and capabilities, the Internet is like a small book of destiny that stores our everyday life. However, it is far from storing every single event in the universe. This helps us to realize how mighty and vast the knowledge of the God is, and the capacity of Lawh al-Mahfuz.

When I recited the verses from Qur’an that related to the idea of the Internet, my friend was surprised. As in this example, scientific discoveries and inspirations can be connected with the verses from the Qur’an in many ways. It is important to make this connection for the greater good. Gülen says, “… Recent scientific discoveries have clarified certain Qur’anic verses. Such advances in knowledge occur successively, as the universe proceeds upon its decreed course and in the measure of understanding appointed for us. We must acknowledge and praise the efforts and achievements of researchers and scientists, but they should not lead us to ingratitude and insolence (the roots of unbelief). Rather, we should reaffirm our dependence upon the Creator for guidance both in our quest for and application of knowledge…” [1]. There is no doubt that the Qur’an drives us to deep thoughts, creativity, inspirations and great ideas.

Our further discussion raised another important question, “What is the purpose of reading scriptures?” To know why we read scriptures is as important as reading itself. The Qur’an explains the meaning of reading and draws attention to creation [2] by saying: “Read, in the name of your Lord, Who created” [Qur’an 96:1]. The Qur’an suggests us to observe the universe and learn from its laws and processes so we do not repeat the mistakes of the previous generations, and instead, build a better future.

Acknowledgment: This article was produced at MERGEOUS [3], an online article and project development service for authors and publishers dedicated to the advancement of technologies in the merging realm of science and religion.

Halil I. Demir is an internet entrepreneur and freelance writer.

References

1. Gülen, Fethullah. Questions and Answers about Islam, NJ: The Light, Inc.
2. Gülen. Fethullah Religious Education of the Child, NJ: The Light, Inc.
3. Mergeous, http://www.mergeous.com

Every day, millions of people log on to online environments, seeking a second life in virtual worlds. It is noticeable that the average user is 26 years old, and spends 22 hours per week in his/her alternative lives [1]. After such dedicated players spend this much time in these worlds, not much is left for their offline activities. They literally live “in” these virtual worlds. What leads them to prefer a virtual life over a real one? Is something missing from the daily life? Why are people not happy or satisfied with what they have? Are they asking for more or looking for something they don’t have?

In Second Life, users can create a new character for themselves, a lifestyle, an environment or anything else they might imagine. Second Life, with about 17 million users, has its own economy and currency (Linden). Residents are able to buy and sell amongst themselves directly using Linden, which is also exchangeable for US dollars. Second Life’s GDP (2007) is estimated between $500 million and $600 million [2], which is larger than the GDP of 19 countries in the world. In October, 2008 users spent approximately $30 million. Although Second Life does not have a government, many countries have embassies in Second Life. The online world even has an in-world newspaper.

Many forms of sports activities have also appeared in Second Life. Residents can watch or participate in football, soccer, boxing, wrestling, and auto racing. Virtual art centers and museums allow artists to create and exhibit their works in a way which might not be possible in real life because of physical constraints or high costs. Streaming vocal and instrumental music or inworld instruments allow performances of live music. Live theater is also available in Second Life. The British act Redzone toured for their new album on Second Life (2007).

There are several studies [3] discussing how these online worlds could be used for educational purposes. There are regions in the virtual world of Second Life for educational purposes, and a variety of topics are covered. Virtual worlds are favored because they are thought to provide more engaging experiences than traditional online learning. Virtual worlds can provide an interactive imitation of real life classroom environments. 80 percent of British universities have teaching and learning activities in Second Life. More than 300 universities around the world are taking advantage of the platform to provide educational services at lower costs.

Good and evil exist in Second Life, so religion is also finding its way into this world. Many religious organizations have opened churches, cathedrals and meeting places in Second Life. People are more willing to explore and discuss spiritual things in a virtual world [4]. Second Life also has a place to perform the Hajj ritual, providing a virtual experience before making the actual pilgrimage in person. However, some residents find the idea of virtual worship odd. They prefer spending their time flying, shopping, or engaging in other activities.

Are all these activities making users happier or just helping them to forget their real life? The more users spend time in these worlds, the more they became addicted to their new lifestyle, becoming alienated from the events and responsibilities of real life.

Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish scholar, addresses this question in one of his latest articles [5] as follows: “In spite of the dizzying developments brought by science, the new opportunities offered by technology, and so many means promising us welfare and happiness, the people of our time do not seem very happy. On the contrary, they are overcome by unease and depression more than ever. Although it should not be expected to be any other way, mere worldly opportunities, which are not supported by personal relationships to faith or knowledge of God, are not deepened or given meaning, and obviously do not mean much.”

Despite the large number of educational and social features available in virtual worlds, the main motivation that leads players to games like Second Life seems to be a lack of satisfaction with their real lives. People are either not happy with their work, lifestyle or social environment, or they are seeking a second chance in life, a fresh start. These worlds approximate real life ever more closely with each new technological development. It remains to be seen how virtual worlds will affect real human relationships. One day people may not realize the difference between real and virtual worlds. Is Second Life simply taking over real life?

Gulen makes a similar connection between technological developments and the afterlife: “Even though it would not be correct to speculate today on the days to come, people who predict the future claim that the world will become so attractive for the people of physicality and carnal pleasures that it will make them forget Paradise. With a feeling and passion that gives priority to immediate pleasures and delights, they will say like Omar Khayyam, ‘The past and future are all but tales; enjoy yourself now, do not spoil your life.’ Thus, they will see life as only eating, drinking, and resting, constantly making their choices in favor of worldly ease and comfort.” The belief that on a particular day all humans will be held accountable before God for their actions in this life helps to support and protect the social dynamics of society. Success in the afterlife depends on remembering that one day we will be held responsible for every single deed of our earthly life.

Social dynamics and problems related to online gaming have been discussed widely in academic arenas. The large amount of time, money and resources spent on these games, as well as the associated social and behavioral problems, and loss of productivity are only some of the issues that come to mind. Scholarly articles on ethical issues of life in virtual worlds [6] have increased lately, and many topics are broached, including matters of privacy, monitoring and eavesdropping, the fear of exploitation, identity theft, the ethical impact of aesthetic decisions, values and ethics that are manifested in the social processes and their relevance to activities, professional ethics, standards of integrity, given identity issues and practices, malevolence and altruism, legal and ethical doctrines of confidential and privileged information, ethics for students and instructors, ethical development stages and issues, vandalism, harassment and crime.

Are we living our lives to the fullest? Everyone has the opportunity to choose how they live in this world. If this time is not well spent, that is, acting as if there is no responsibility or judgment for every action, what would be the difference between people living in this world as if it is a game, and those playing their lives away in these online worlds? The Holy Qur’an says: “This life of the world is but a pastime and a game, but the home of the Hereafter, that is Life if they but knew” [7]. Some people prefer their online lives to real life, and unfortunately many others are not aware that their actions evince their preference for the real life over the afterlife.

The movie Matrix has a similar story. The Matrix is a virtual world for people whose bodies are connected to the Machines, which use the bioelectricity and thermal energy of humans as their energy supply. Humans live out their lives in this virtual reality that resembles the 21st century without knowing that they are in a simulation. In the movie, a group of free humans attempts to rescue (unplug) others from the Matrix. The main challenge here is to make others believe that there is another life which is more real or important than the one they are living. In fact, as human beings we are all confronted with the same challenge. Either we gain an understanding of the meaning of our existence in the world and live accordingly, or we are enslaved by worldly ease and comfort, immediate pleasures and delights.

I would like to end with a point the Gulen made on happiness: “It seems that until human beings come to realize their essence, it will not be possible for them to put their affairs in order or to attain the happiness they long for. And this is particularly so if they are trying to suppress their spiritual appetite through luxury, comfort, and seeking to satisfy their physical pleasures because they are unable to realize their real problems.”

Acknowledgment: This article has been produced at MERGEOUS [8], an online article and project development service for authors and publishers dedicated to the advancement of technologies in the merging realm of science and religion.

Halil I. Demir is postdoctoral scholar in the area of Informatics, and lives in Iowa.

References

[1] Yee, N. “The demographics, motivations, and derived experiences of users of massively-multiuser online graphical environments.” Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments 15:309–329.

[2] Wikipedia, Linden Dolar, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linden_dollar

[3] Delwiche, A. (2006). “Massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) in the new media classroom.” Educational Technology & Society, 9 (3), 160-172.

[4] Anselmo, D., 08/01/2007, “A ‘Second’ Way to Save Souls” (churchsolutionsmag.com).

[5] Gulen, M. Fethullah, “Days of Depression and Our Atlas of Hope,” The Fountain Magazine, Issue 67, 2009.

[6] Emerging Ethical Issues of Life in Virtual Worlds, Information Age Publishing, Charlotte, NC, June 15, 2009.

[7] The Holy Quran (29:64).

[8] Mergeous, http://www.mergeous.com

In general, social theories do not work in an absolutely deterministic manner due to the human factor. This is true of the fact that religions offer peace to society. Among these side factors are various social and historical engagements, possible misunderstandings and misinterpretations inherited from the past, and so on.

In this article, I analyze two religions: one is a religion of love and peace, and the other is a religion of love and mercy. However, many unfortunate events have taken place between them. For the purpose of this paper, I have set all such events aside on the grounds that every historical event should be evaluated in light of its original circumstances. Therefore, it would not be fair to judge the past using todayas arguments. We can probably just say: Those who believe (in the Quran), who follow the Jewish (scriptures), and the Sabians, Christians, Magians, and polytheists, God will judge between them on the Day of Judgment, for God is witness of all things (22:17) The only benefit from recalling these events might be to discover the mistakes made in history so that they can be avoided in the future.

Given the above and now that we are in the Age of Information, followers of both religions should review their knowledge and think carefully about whether existing misunderstandings are based on something other than the written sources, especially the holy books of both religions. Prophet Muhammad once said: People are the enemy of what they do not know.a So, do we really know each other well? If not, what does such ignorance lead to? Do those who have sharp critiques of another religion even know its fundamentals? Unfortunately, none of these and similar questions have a positive answer.

Therefore, in an effort to help diminish this lack of knowledge, this article provides some brief explanations about how the Quran sees Christianity. There are many other related verses and arguments in the Sunnah as well, but those will be dealt with in a later article. For the purposes of this article, the Quran is sufficient.

Christianity and Christians

Is Christianity a Divine Religion? This question has an immediate answer: Yes! According to the Quran, Christianity is a religion from God and all religions from the Divine Source are the same. The only differences are some modifications made by God according to the prevailing conditions of a particular age. The name of this religion is Islam, and Prophet Muhammad brought its final version: He has established the same religion for you as that which He enjoined upon Noah–which We have sent by inspiration to you–and that We enjoined upon Abraham, Moses, and Jesus (42:13). Other verses, such as 4:136 and 2:213, point this out in a wider approach.

That is why the Quran most of the time carefully distinguishes unbelievers from followers of the holy scriptures, although there is no agreement on all points of these beliefs. The fact that it calls them the People of the Booka is important.

Remarkably, the Quran sometimes refers to People of the Book (Jews and Christians) or previous scriptures as supporting the Messenger, and sometimes declares itself a reference for verifying previous scriptures. In fact, both show that the Quran somehow accreditsa Christianity. We read, respectively: They say, ˜Why does he not bring to us a sign from his Lord? Has there not come to them a clear evidence of what is in the previous books? (20:133; see also 6:114, 10:94, 13:43, 29:47, 28:52) and He has revealed to you the Book with truth, verifying that which is before it, and revealed the Torah and the Gospels aforetime, guidance for the people (3:3; see also 35:31).

In the following verse, the Quran gives special importance to Christianity: Behold! God said: O Jesus, I will take you and raise you to Myself, and clear you (of the falsehoods) of those who blaspheme. I will make your followers superior to those who reject faith, until the Day of Resurrection. Then shall you all return unto Me, and I will judge between you about that which you dispute (3:33). In 22:40, the Quran mentions churches as being among those places in which the name of God is commemorated.

Christians and their relations with Muslims. The following verses state the basic characteristics of Christians in general, which can be summarized as being trustworthy, adoring God during the night, being lowly before God, not taking a small price for the communications of God, not behaving proudly, being strong believers and crying on account of the truth, having Compassion and Mercy in their hearts, and so on.

We read in the Quran: Among the People of the Book are some such that if you entrust one (of them) with a heap of wealth, he shall pay it back to you (3:75); They are not all alike. Of the People of the Book there is an upright party. They recite Godas communications in the nighttime and adore (Him) (3:113); and Most surely, among the People of the Book are those who believe in God and (in) that which has been revealed to you and to them, being lowly before God; they do not take a small price for the communications of God. These have their reward with their Lord. Surely God is quick in reckoning (3:199; see also 29:47).

The Quran also states: When they hear what has been revealed to the Apostle, you will see their eyes overflowing with tears on account of the truth that they recognize. They say: Our Lord, we believe, so write us down with the witnesses (of truth). And why should we not believe in God and in the truth that has come to us, while we earnestly desire that our Lord should cause us to enter with the good people?a Therefore God rewarded them, on account of what they said, with gardens in which rivers flow to abide in therein. This is the reward of those who do good (to others) (5:83-85); and bestowed on Jesus, son of Mary the Gospel, and We ordained compassion and mercy in the hearts of his followers (57:27).

A Muslim man or women is forbidden to marry an unbeliever and to eat the meat of any animal that has not been sacrificed in Godas name. However, the following verse cancels that restriction for the People of the Book: This day (all) the good things are allowed to you. The food of those who have been given the Book is lawful for you and your food is lawful for them, and chaste believing women and the chaste from among those who were given the Book before you (are lawful for you) (5:5).

This obviously means that God wants Muslims to become closer to Christians in their social life. But more importantly, and in addition to issues of marriage or food, Muslims are asked to be nice to them at all times: Do not dispute with the People of the Book except by what is best, except for those of them who act unjustly (29:46). Can their status as People of the Book be one reason why Muslims are told to be nice to them? You will find the most violent of people in enmity towards believers [to be] the Jews and the polytheists, and you will find the nearest in friendship to believers [to be] those who say: We are Christians.a This is because there are priests and monks among them, and because they do not behave proudlya (5:82; see also 13.36).

Who is saved: Christians or Muslims? The above discussion naturally may lead one to a desire to know who will be in heaven. However, we are not at a position to really answer this question, for heaven belongs to God and its people are His people. Thus, talking about who will and will not be in heaven does not seem to be a respectful behavior toward God: Whatever is in the heavens and Earth is Godas, and We enjoined those who were given the Book before you and you too to be careful of (your duty to) God. If you do not believe, surely whatever is in the heavens and in Earth is Godas. God is Self-sufficient, worthy of [all] praise. (4:131).

Those who consider themselves to have some kind of guarantee, who try to restrict the ways to heaven according to their own will, or letting everybody have a place in it ahead of time may be at fault. We probably can talk about being saved if it is clearly stated in the scriptures. I think both Muslims and Christians agree that unbelievers will receive an everlasting punishment on the Day of Judgment.

So, everyone should consider seriously what the Quran says: (As for) those who believe and do good, We will make them enter into gardens beneath which rivers flow, to abide therein forever. (This is) Godas promise, (which is) true. Who is truer of word than God? (This) shall not be in accordance with your vain desires or those of the People of the Book. Whoever does evil will be requited with it and, besides God, such people will not find for themselves a guardian or a helper. Whoever does good deeds, whether male or female, and he (or she) is a believer–they will enter the garden and will not be dealt with unjustly in any way (4:122-24). Clearly, these verses are talking about both Muslims and Christians, but not in accordance with their desires.

Probably the problem becomes one of determining what are good deeds. Fortunately, good deeds are defined in almost exactly the same way in both religions. The verse: Turning your face to East or West can be read as calling yourself Muslim or Christiana: It is not righteousness that you turn your faces toward the East and the West, but righteousness that one should believe in God, the Last Day, the angels, the Book, and the Prophets; give away wealth out of love for Him to near relatives, orphans, the needy, wayfarers, beggars, for (the emancipation of) captives, and observe the prayers and pay the poor-rate. Those who keep their promise after they have made one, and those who are patient in times of distress, affliction, and conflict–these are the ones who are true (to themselves) and who guard (against evil) (2:177).

The following verses address Christians directly: If the People of the Book had believed and guarded (against evil), We would have covered their evil deeds and have made them enter gardens of bliss (5:65) and Those who believe, or who are Jews, Christians, and Sabians–whoever believes in God and the Last Day and does good, will have their reward from their Lord. There is no fear for them, nor shall they grieve (2:62; see also 5:69).

How is the Bible mentioned? It is widely accepted in the Muslim world, along with some historical evidence, that the words of the Torah, the Bible, and the Psalms do not have the same miraculous nature of those of the Quran. This is because they have been translated repeatedly, with the result that many alien words gradually became part of the original text. Also, the words of commentators and sometimes their misguided interpretations were confused with their verses. In addition, distortions conceived by ignorant and hostile people were incorporated into them. Over time, the amount of corruption and alteration in those Books has continued to grow.

Nevertheless, there is still some evidence that the Bible or the Torah, both of which are mentioned in the Quran, mostly refers to those existing at the time of Prophet Muhammad. As for the Torah, the Quran states in a verse revealed after a group of Jews asked the Prophet a question and then disobeyed his decision: How do they make you a judge and they have the Torah, wherein is Godas judgment? Yet they turn back after that. These are not the believersa And We sent after them in their footsteps Jesus, son of Mary, verifying what was before him of the Torah. And We gave him the Gospel, in which was guidance and light, and verifying what was before it of the Torah, and [serving as] a guidance and an admonition for those who guard (against evil) (5:43-44, 56; see also 5:27, 7:157).

As the Gospel verified the Torah, the Quran verifies both (3:3; see also 9:111). Likewise, the following verse also encourages followers of the book to read the Book as it should be read: Those to whom We have given the Book read it as it ought to be read, they believe in it. Those who do not believe in it are the losers (2:121).

Suggested Reading List

• Gulen, M. Fethullah. The Infinite Light. London: Kaynak A.S., 1996 (Online at www.fgulen.com). Gulen, Essentials of the Islamic Faith is also a good source of related information.
• Hasan, Ahmad (trans.). Sunan Abu Dawud, book 36 (Online at www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah).
• Khan, M. Muhsin (trans.). Sahih Bukhari, books 55 and 56 (Online at www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah).
• Nursi, Bediuzzaman Said. Risale-i Nur Collection: The Letters. The Nineteenth Letter: Sixteenth Sign.a Konak-Izmir, Turkey: Kaynak AS, 1998. (Online at www.nur.org or www.risale-inur.com). Related topics are discussed throughout the entire collection.
• Siddiqui, Abdul Hamid (trans.). Sahih Muslim, books 30, 31, and 41 (Online at www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah).

The increasing use of e-learning methods and virtual university environments have focused researchers attention on the Socratic method: Playing students with questions and then demanding that they discover, organize, and structure their own responses to the problems posed in an attempt to overcome the constraints of traditional methods.(1) Socrates also believed that students could be successful only if they accepted responsibility and took the initiative.

The Web’s 1992 advent represents a watershed in the development of online education. Its user-friendly nature made the Internet accessible to the general public, and its powerful graphic capabilities expanded the range of disciplines that could be offered online by enabling virtual labs, studios, animations, and so on.(2) Currently, e-learning allows people to learn anywhere and usually at any time, as long as the computer being used is configured properly. With its available text, video, audio, animation, and virtual environments, its self-paced, hands-on nature has the potential to offer a more enriching level of training than students might experience in a crowded classroom.

E-learning methods

Contemporary e-learning methods contain elements of the Socratic model. Students select, organize, and structure the information in order to accomplish selected tasks. They see the functional value of what they are learning while they are learning, and benefit from working directly with the content.

The virtual university (VU) concept enables the application of e-learning methods in a wide range of fields. VU is a customized Web-based learning environment that delivers online education and seeks to support active, collaborative learning and cross-disciplinary knowledge-building.(3) Knowledge-building is the intentional process of solving problems progressively and developing and acquiring expertise.(4)

In a traditional instruction system, only the instructor is the active learner, for teaching someone else is a powerful way to learn. By selecting, organizing, and structuring the information for a group of students, instructors benefit by working with and mastering the content for themselves.(5) Students are only passive consumers of the content.

E-learning, a revised and updated form of discovery learning, is a student-centered learning approach based on knowledge-building. In this active learning environment, students encounter experiences that enable them to construct personal knowledge through problem-solving and experimentation.(6) These knowledge-building principles work particularly well in an e-learning setting, because e-learning provides memorable events. It is more likely that these events will come to mind as learners are challenged by on-the-job or real-life problems.

Intuitively, e-learning falls into four categories, as follows:

-Knowledge databases: These databases, the most basic forms of e-learning, offer indexed explanations, guidance, and step-by-step instructions for performing specific tasks.

-Online support: This comes in the form of forums, chat rooms, online bulletin boards, e-mail, or live instant-messaging support. It is slightly more interactive than knowledge databases.

-Asynchronous training (time independent): Such self-paced learning may include access to instructors through online bulletin boards and discussion groups, as well as e-mail.

-Synchronous training (time dependent): This consists of real-time training with a live instructor facilitating the training. Everyone logs in at a set time and can communicate directly with the instructor and with each other.

The VU must attain a high level of quality if it is to succeed in meeting local needs and competing internationally. Today, any VU is, by default, global. Hence, issues of quality are a key competitive advantage. The keys to successful e-learning are as follows:

-Vary content type: Images, sounds, and text work together to build memory in several areas of the brain and result in better retention. Mix images with words, or sounds (e.g., voices or music) with images.

-Create attention-grabbing interaction: Games, quizzes, and even required manipulation of something on the screen creates more interest, which in turn builds better retention by using multiple types of media.

-Provide immediate feedback: E-learning courses can build in immediate feedback to correct misunderstood material.

-Encourage interaction with other e-learners and an e-instructor: Chat rooms, discussion boards, instant messaging, and e-mail all offer effective interaction for e-learners, and do a good job of replacing classroom discussion.(7) Building an online community significantly influences the success of online programs.

E-learning benefits

E-learning has definite benefits over traditional classroom training. (8) While the most obvious are the flexibility and the cost savings from not having to travel or spend excess time away from work, there are also others that might not be so obvious. For example:

-Less expensive to produce: E-learning is virtually free after reaching the break-even point.

-Self-paced: Most e-learning programs can be taken when needed. Going through it at one’s own pace helps avoid missing information if, for example, the student has to leave the class or does not understand exactly what the teacher is saying. This is one reason why e-learning is so effective.

-Faster paced: This individualized approach allows learners to skip material they already know and understand and move on to new material.

-Consistent message: E-learning eliminates problems associated with different instructors teaching slightly different material on the same subject.

-Availability at any location and time: E-learners can work training sessions into their schedules, now that they are freed from traveling to and sitting in classrooms.

-Interactivity: This can assume the form of simply clicking on appropriate responses to questions, clicking to animate an object or start a process, or dragging and dropping items to practice a skill. Training-related interactive games are a very effective way of improving learning.

-Updated easily and quickly: This is especially easy, since all one has to do is upload the updated materials to a server.

-Increased retention and a stronger grasp of the material: Many elements, such as video, audio, quizzes, and interaction, are combined in e-learning to reinforce the message. Being motivated to learn is half the battle. Knowing that the course contains some fun elements like video, audio, animation, and gaming scenarios increases interest and curiosity. This, too, leads to better retention and faster learning.

-Easily managed: This is especially true in the case of large student groups.

Conclusion

Learning is both a social and an intensely personal activity. E-learning can enhance both elements, for unlike tell-and-test learning, e-learning builds a cognitive network of understanding. Electronic media-supported discovery learning provides a safe, private, and non-embarrassing environment for learning about hazardous systems, conditions, and operations. Such an environment encourages simulated experimentation and underscores the importance of proper procedures in the real world.

Footnotes

1. Michael Allen, How To Make Learning Active and Student-centered, e-Learning Magazine (Jan. 2002).
2. Linda Harasim, The Future of E(Learning) (keynote address at University of Warwick [UK], CAL 2001 Conference).
3. M. Bakardjieva and Linda Harasim. Collaborative Meaning-making in Computer Conferences: A Socio-cultural Perspective, in Proceedings from the Ed-Media Ed-Telecom conference in Freiburg, Germany (Charlottesville, VA: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education, 1998).
4. Linda Harasim, What Are We Learning about Teaching and Learning Online-and so what? : Lessons from the Virtual-U Field Trial, (keynote speech presented at the Third Annual TeleLearning Conference, Vancouver, Canada, November 1998).
5. A. Feenberg, Distance Learning: Promise or Threat (1999). Online at:www-rohan.sdsu.edu/faculty/feenberg/TELE3.HTM.
6. Milton Campos and Linda Harasim, Virtual-U: Results and Challenges of Unique Field Trials: Technical Report (2001).
7. Milton Campos, Conditional Reasoning: A Key to Assessing Computer-based Knowledge-building Communication Processes, Journal of Universal Computer Science 4, no. 4 (1998): 404-28.
8. A. Breuleux, T. Laferrière, and R. Bracewell, Networked Learning Communities in Teacher Education, (1998). Online at: www.coe.uh.edu/insite/elec_pub/HTML1998/ts_breu.htm.

Biological weapons (BWs), defined as infectious bacterial or viral agents used to harm others, have a long history2: Primitive peoples used arrows poisoned with biological toxins from animal and plant extracts, and also poisoned their enemy’s water supply with fecal extracts. Medieval warriors besieging the Russian city of Kaffa catapulted plague-infected corpses over its walls. Europeans knowingly gave smallpox- or measles-infected blankets to Native Americans, who had no resistance to these diseases. BWs reportedly were used during WWII. Over time, BWs have come to include biologically derived toxins and poisons.3 Among the most dangerous agents are smallpox, botalinum toxin (Btx), anthrax, and ricin.4 Some are highly lethal, while others incapacitate the host or primarily harm animals and plants. Today, many countries are believed to fund such research.

BWs Become a Modern Issue

Japan started the first offensive biological weapon program in 1918 with Unit 731, a special army unit dedicated to BWs production and experimentation. In 1931, it moved to Man-churia, China, where it conducted experiments on Chinese people and actually attacked several cities with different BWs until 1942. At least 10,000 Chinese died during those experiments. In 1942, the U.S. learned of this program and started its own. By 1969, it had weaponized the agents causing anthrax, botulism, tularemia, brucellosis, Venezuelan equine encephalitis, and Q fever.5

In 1969, President Nixon declared that the U.S. unilaterally renounced first use of lethal or incapacitating chemical agents and weapons, and unconditionally renounced all methods of biological warfare. Henceforth, the U.S.’s biological program would research only strictly defined measures of defense, such as immunization. All stockpiles were ordered to be destroyed. The U.S. and 165 other countries have signed the Biolog-ical and Toxic Weapons Convention (BWC), and 144 countries have ratified it.6

But the BWC cannot be effective if it cannot be enforced. For example, the USSR signed it but continued its programs. In 1979, at least 66 people died after an accidental anthrax release from a plant near Sverdlovsk. Soviet authorities denied any BWs production, but years later President Yeltsin confirmed that anthrax was being researched at that time.7 Yeltsin further asserted that all such programs were stopped and that stockpiles were being removed. However, evidence suggests that part of the offensive programs continue.8

The USSR’s demise (1991) led to the spread of BWs production information. According to Margolis, some of the 60,000 scientists and technicians formerly employed by its biological warfare establishment reportedly are working in Iraq, Israel, Iran, Syria, and Serbia, all of which already have extensive arsenals of biowarfare weapons. India also may have received substantial Russian aid.9

Iraq announced its BWs program in 1995. Fortunately, such agents were not used during the Gulf War, possibly due to fear of nuclear retaliation. The UN destroyed whatever it could find of Iraq’s BWs program in 1996.10 China, Iran, Taiwan, Syria, Cuba, North Korea, Egypt, Israel, and Libya are suspected of having similar programs.11

Why Would Anyone Use BWs?

In the eyes of nations or groups that put their own ideology or interests above all other considerations, including human life and future generations, such weapons might appear attractive. Consider the following points:

BWs probably are more effective on a per-quantity basis than more conventional weapons. Just 8 ounces of Type-A botalinum toxin, “the most lethal substance known,” could kill every living creature on Earth.12 One gram of anthrax contains 100 million lethal doses, and a few kilograms can kill as many people as died at Hiroshima.13 Generally speaking, several kilos of a biological agent can have the impact of several tons of nerve gas. BWs are extremely effective because they are highly toxic and are living organisms that multiply in and infect target hosts.

Producing chemical and nuclear weapons requires sophisticated equipment and highly trained personnel; BWs require only a modest level of education and investment. Kathleen C. Bailey, a former assistant director of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, is “absolutely convinced” that a major biological arsenal could be built with $10,000 worth of equipment in a 15×15 ft. room.14

For example:

To infect 1 sq. km., it would cost approximately $2,000 using conventional weapons, $800 using nuclear weapons, $600 using chemical weapons, and $1 using biological weapons. Any nation with a reasonably advanced pharmaceutical and medical industry can mass produce BWs.15

Weaponized anthrax probably could be produced in a small house, apartment or RV for less than $100,000. The program could be run by perhaps less than a dozen technicians with the equivalent of a BS degree led by one supervisor with a Ph.D. The relevant basic knowledge for most biological weapons-grade microbes is freely available, and equipment and chemicals can be obtained from dozens of suppliers.16

A live weapon needs only a small sample for mass production. Some agents exist naturally in the soil or can be ordered from a biotech company. Various researchers have claimed that Saddam Hussein used the latter method to acquire his original anthrax culture.17 BWs are hard are to detect in the production phase, for most bioweapons can be produced in hidden and/or mobile conditions.18 When detected, the place can be quickly cleaned and transformed into an ordinary pharmaceutical research or biology lab. Furthermore, such anti-terrorist sensor systems as metal detectors, x-ray machines, trained dogs, or neutron bombardment cannot detect BWs.19

Damage is confined to people (and possibly other living things), thus leaving infrastructure intact20; the sheer terror caused by such a threat21; ensuing governmental panic22; and the time lag between release and detection makes identification and apprehension very remote.23 But BWs also have certain drawbacks, among them:

The need for effective delivery. Most biological agents infect through inhalation. Too-large particles are caught in the respiratory system; too-small particles are exhaled. To stay in the lungs, the particle should be between 1 and 5 Angstroms. In fact, a BW attempt in Japan failed because the dissemination tool was ineffective.24

Even if disseminated, the desired result is far from certain. Most biological materials, including spores, are destroyed by exposure to ultraviolet light and drying. Agents released in the air may disperse in unexpected ways due to changes in wind patterns. Rain may wash the agents out of the air before they reach their target. Also, BWs can turn around and infect those who released them.

BWs’ live nature is a two-edged sword. The disease spreads easily, but no one can know when it is safe to live in the infected area. An agent’s lifespan is a major concern, for it can become part of the local microflora and thus threaten any military follow-up activities for an unknown length of time.25

Vulnerability to Attack

BWs have two main uses: on the battlefield and on a civilian population. Battlefield Use: BWs have several drawbacks here, such as high dependence upon external conditions, delayed effects, possible self-infection, uncertainty over when an infected area is safe enough to return to, and neutralization by vaccination or protective clothing. Use on a Civilian Population: This is the true horror, for civilians would not be prepared for such an attack and the resulting epidemic would be very hard to control. If the attack is covert, authorities would be unable to identify the source and unaware of the attack until infected people start showing up in the hospitals. When they finally identified the agent, the infection would be widespread. If a vaccine did not exist, health professionals would be unable to offer much help. The U.S. considers itself very vulnerable to such an attack and is working to protect itself.

Given that BWs are not hard to obtain, why have they not been used on civilian populations so far? The main reasons seem to be fear of a reprisal attack and of alienating the public to one’s cause. Potential users apparently feel that the disadvantages far outweigh the advantages. But as they may not always feel that way, the U.S. and other nations are studying how to prepare their national health care infrastructures and personnel to deal with such an event.

A Recent Development

On July 26, 2001, the Washington Post announced that the U.S. would withdraw from the BWC on the grounds that a newly proposed protocol “would not prevent cheating, and could encourage espionage against the U.S. pharmaceutical and chemical industries.” One wonders if other countries will follow suit.

Conclusion

Many Web sites discuss this vital issue, such as: www.brad.ac.uk/acad/sbtwc/: strengthening the BWC; www.cbiac.apgea.army.mil/about_us/general.html: Department of Defense focal point for data related to Chemical Warfare/Chemical and Biological Defense technology; www.asanltr.com/: specializes in nuclear, biological, and chemical defense and protection issues; www.geocities.com/nbclinks/: gateway for nuclear, biological, and chemical warfare data on the Web; and www.seanet.com/~gtate/cwoff.htm: gives access to various chemical warfare-related Web pages.

All religions condemn such horrific weapons on the grounds that all life is inherently sacred and worthy of respect. However, realpolitik, greed for profits, ideological conflict, and the need to assert or maintain control of natural and other resources deafens many governments and people to the appeals of religion.

Unfortunately, one nation’s and even one group’s decision to head down this path causes others to follow for the sake of self-preservation. We are well-advanced on this path, and no one can say where it will end

Footnotes

1. Rod Hafemeister, “Vaccines Will Not Suffice Fight Vs. Anthrax Needs Other Ammo,” Belleville News-Democrat (28 Dec. 1997). Online at: www.militaryreporter.org/anthrax.html.
2. R. E. Hurlbert, Microbiology 101, “Chapter XV, Adden-dum: Biological Weapons; Malignant Biology,” Washington State Univ. 1997). Online at: www.slic2.wsu.edu:82/hurlbert/micro101/pages/101biologicalweapons.html.
3. Henry E. Hardy, “Biological Weapons FAQ v. 0.44,” (1999): Online at: www.ocean.ic.net/ftp/doc/disaster/bio/biowfaq.html.
4. Partial online list: www.fas.org/nuke/intro/bw/agent.htm.
5. Thomas W. McGovern and George W. Christopher, Biological Warfare and Its Coetaneous Manifestations. Online at: www.telemedicine.org/BioWar/biologic.htm.
6. http://projects.sipri.se/cbw/docs/bw-btwc-mainpage.html.
7. F. A. Abramova et al., “Pathology of inhalational anthrax in 42 cases from the Sverdlovsk outbreak of 1979,” Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, no. 90 (1993): 2291-94; G. W. Christopher et al., “Biological Warfare: A Historical Perspective,” J Am Med Assoc, no. 278 (1997): 412-17.
8. Eric Margolis, “Another Doomsday Clock Is Ticking, Ticking,” Foreign Correspondent (20 June 1999). Online at: www.foreigncorrespondent.com/ archive/doomsday.htm.
9. R A. Zilinskas, “Iraq’s biological weapons: The past as future?” J Am Med Assoc, no. 278 (1997): 418-24.
10. Chemical and Biological Weapons Nonproliferation Project Web Page: www.stimson.org/cwc/bwissues.htm.
11. Margolis, “Another Doomsday,”(20 June 1999).
12. Robert H. Kupperman and David M. Smith, “Coping with Biological Terrorism,” in Brad Roberts, ed., Biological Weapons: Weapons of the Future? (Washington: Center for Strategic and International Studies, 1993), 35-46; Wayman C. Mullins, “An Overview and Analysis of Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Terrorism: The Weapons, Strategies and Solutions to a Growing Problem,” American Journal of Criminal Justice 16:2 (1992): 95-119.
13. M. Asperilla, “Bioterrorism: The threat of the future.” Online at: www.sun-herald.com/2000/fron9.htm.
14. L. Cole, “The Specter of Biological Weapons,” Scientific American. Online at: www.sciam.com/1296issue/ 1296cole.html#1.
15. Ibid.
16. R. E. Hurlbert, “Biological Weapons: Black Biology,” Focus on Microbiology Education Newsletter (Spring 1998). Online at: www.microbelibrary.org/newsletter/nltrs98.htm.
17. For this and other claims of how the U.S. helped Iraq obtain the necessary ingredients for both biological and chemical weapons, consult Mark Phythian and Nikos Passas, Arming Iraq: How the U.S. and Britain Secretly Built Saddam’s War Machine (Northeastern Univ. Press: 1996); Alan Friedman, Spider’s Web: The Secret History of How the White House Illegally Armed Iraq (New York : Bantam Books, 1993).
18. Hurlbert, Microbiology 101 (see footnote 8).
19. Robert S. Root-Bernstein, “Infectious Terrorism,” Atlantic Monthly (May 1991): 44-50.
20. Stanley L. Wiener 1991. “Terrorist Use of Biological Weapons.” Terrorism 14:2, (1991): 129; “Chemical and Biological Weapons and Terrorism,” in Susan Flood, ed., International Terrorism: Policy Implications (Chicago: Office of International Criminal Justice, The University of Illinois at Chicago, 1991), 65.
21. Robert H. Kupperman and Darrell M. Trent, Terrorism: Threat, Reality, Response (Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press, 1979).
22. Harvey J. McGeorge, “Reversing the Trend on Terror,” Defense & Foreign Affairs 16:4 (April 1988): 16-22.
23. Jeffrey D. Simon, Terrorists and the Potential Use of Biological Weapons: A Discussion of Possibilities R/3771-AFMIC (Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corp., 1989): 10; William E. Burrows and Robert Windrem, Critical Mass: The Dangerous Race for Superweapons in a Fragmenting World (New York: 1994), 483.
24. The ease of dissemination remains controversial. A detailed summary of the BWs delivery scenarios can be found in Ron Perver, Chemical and Biological Terrorism: The Threat According to the Open Literature. Online at: www.csis-scrs.gc.ca/eng/miscdocs/purv_e.html#tab2.
25. Dr. Dane Jones. Online at: www.calpoly.edu/~drjones/ biowar-e3.html.

And We have made the heavens as a canopy well guarded: yet do they turn away from the Signs which these things (point to)! (Qur’an 21:32)

We are often awed by how fine-tuned our planet is for the existence and continuation of life. One factor that makes this possible is its atmosphere, which is designed to filter out harmful radiation and meteors from space. While solar radiation is largely absorbed, some is reflected by the planet and the atmosphere. Some of the radiation reflected or emitted by Earth passes through the atmosphere, while the rest is absorbed and emitted in all directions by some gases in the atmosphere. This reflected radiation, combined with the energy absorbed by Earth, enables life to exist here.

Since this phenomenon resembles the heat reflected by glass panels in a greenhouse, it is called the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse gases that contribute significantly to this process are carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride. The greenhouse effect is necessary for life, but too much of it is undesirable. Some negative consequences are changes in average temperature, precipitation, wind and ocean circulation patterns, polar glacier melting, and more storms, droughts, and floods.

The atmosphere is an extremely complex system that is not fully understood. During Earth’s long history, its atmosphere’s composition has experienced natural variations. By analyzing tree rings and core samples taken from Greenland and various high-altitude tropical areas, scientists have concluded that Earth has undergone several warming and cooling cycles. Among the factors that can cause such changes are greenhouse gases and ocean water salinity. According to Stant: “Since 1861 the Earth has warmed by about 0.5 degrees Celsius. Most of this warming took place before 1940, but much of it has taken place in the last 15 years. The global temperature of the Earth is projected to rise anywhere from 0.8 to 2.6 degrees Celsius in the next thirty to forty years.”1

Some scientists think that the most recent atmospheric changes are part of a natural variation. But there is a growing consensus that human activity, particularly the emission of greenhouse gases and especially the carbon dioxide produced by industrial activity, has played some role. Small amounts of such gases can be absorbed by forests and oceans, and thus do not represent a serious problem. But thanks to the Industrial Revolution, this system has been thrown out of balance. Other activities, such as increased agriculture, deforestation, and the widespread use of fossil fuels for transportation, industrial processes, and heating fuels have exacerbated it.

This article will summarize the latest findings on the potential impact of global climate change.

Background

The vast majority of scientists now agree that business-as-usual may lead to irreversible change in Earth’s atmosphere. Global climate change became part of the political agenda in the developed world during the mid-1980s, a time of increasing environmental awareness and mounting public concern due to the efforts of Greenpeace, the Sierra Club, and other pro-environment groups. One assumption gradually emerged out of the numerous conferences, grassroots efforts, and publications: The developed countries are primarily responsible for the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and therefore should take the lead in fixing the problem. The latest step taken to mitigate worldwide emissions was the Kyoto Protocol (11 Dec. 1998), which devised a formula to determine the amount of gases each country could emit. Although signed by 84 countries, it has to be ratified by at least 55 countries (emissions from which make up at least 55% of global emissions) before it can be enforced. This has not happened yet.

The United States, the major producer of greenhouse gases, has signed but not ratified the Kyoto Protocol. Hopes were high that the new Bush administration would do so. However, Bush soon reneged on a campaign pledge to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from U.S. power plants, and shortly thereafter repudiated the Kyoto Protocol. His claim that the scientific evidence for the greenhouse effect and its consequences was not yet convincing was greeted with disbelief. Questions were raised about corporate America’s role in forming his views, as many companies opposed the protocol and contributed heavily to his presidential campaign.

Fortunately, there is also mounting evidence that industry opposition, led by the oil, gas, and automotive concerns, is weakening. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, “many businesses recognize global warming as a threat and realize that reducing emissions is in their economic interest. Several-including such giants as BP-Amoco, IBM and Johnson & Johnson-have voluntarily adopted emissions reductions stronger than those called for in the Kyoto Protocol.”2

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) established the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 1988. Tasked with assessing the scientific, technical, and socioeconomic data needed to understand the risk of human-induced climate change, its mission is to provide policymakers with the most current scientific data on global climate change. The IPCC serves as a good example of how scientists from different backgrounds and countries come together to investigate a global problem. Some of its findings are summarized below.3

Agriculture and Food Security. In principle, increased levels of carbon dioxide should benefit agriculture. However, one has to consider subsequent regional changes in rainfall and the reaction of crops, soil, and pests. Moreover, excessive heat and drought might have a negative impact on crop yield.

The overall effect on crop yield is predicted to be positive, especially in such colder regions as Canada and Russia, if the rise in average temperature does not exceed several degrees Celsius. If it does, the effect will be negative. In tropical regions, where crops are already near their maximum heat tolerance, even a minimal increase in temperature is predicted to have a negative effect on crop yields. The number of people at risk of hunger, especially in Africa, is expected to increase. The most vulnerable populations will be those who depend heavily on agriculture and those living in developing countries.

Ecosystem Damage. Ecosystems react to climate changes much slower than people. Wildlife habitat distribution and composition will be directly influenced by any change in temperature and rainfall, and indirectly by any change in vegetation. Most likely, species will not have enough time to adapt. This will be exacerbated by the continuing fragmentation of wildlife habitats by human settlement, which makes migration infeasible for most species. Since migration is unlikely, species composition and dominance will change, and endangered species will face extinction. Changes in ocean circulation will affect fish abundance and habitat boundaries, as well as fish population dynamics. This might have a significant impact on fish-dependent societies.

Rising Sea Levels. This is perhaps the most worrisome impact category. The IPCC Working Group I reports that as a result of melting polar glaciers, the global sea level will rise anywhere from 0.09m to 0.88m. Oceans cover a large part of the planet and have a significant impact on its climate. Wind and circulation patterns also are affected by changes in sea level and sea-surface temperature.

If the rises are high enough, many of the generally accepted models indicate that small islands will be submerged, many coastal areas will be inundated, and freshwater resources will face seawater intrusion. In addition, large coastal areas will be evacuated, populations will have to migrate, and wetlands and mangrove forests will be lost. Such countries as Bangladesh, which depends heavily on mangroves, will be devastated. The fishery industry will suffer as fish abundance and location change.

And, as if all of this were not enough, there also might be a rise in the frequency and severity of storms and sea-surges. Countries that depend largely on coastal tourism will suffer. Although people will see the approaching catastrophes and try to protect themselves by building seawalls, nourishing beaches, and other measures, not all of the impact will be cancelled.

Health Sector. There will be fewer complaints about the cold during the winter, but more complaints about the heat during the summer. Whether the benefits will outweigh the costs depends on the region. Tropical regions will face more deaths from heat stress. In addition, the influence areas of vector-, food- and water-borne diseases will shift. For example, depending on changes in rainfall and average temperature, malaria or dengue fever might become more widespread.

Although the specific impact depends on a wide variety of local conditions, such as the health infrastructure and socioeconomic conditions, the overall effect is predicted to be negative, especially in developing countries. Such extreme climate-related events as cyclones, floods, and droughts might become more common and severe, and thus leave exposed populations with even more health problems.

What Needs To Be Done

For each anticipated impact category (and for others not included here),

there is a wide range of institutional, technological, and behavioral adaptation measures that can be pursued to minimize damage. The IPCC report contains many suggestions. Governments should become aware of the consequences of global climate change and start working to increase public awareness. As most measures might take decades to plan and implement, any delay only makes the problem harder to solve.

In addition, greenhouse gas emission rates have to be decreased. The time for playing around has passed. Governments and people in positions of power, as hard as it might be, should agree on a global approach and then set about implementing it. There have been some advances, but not enough. Developed countries, having caused the global warming problem, should take the lead in implementing the Kyoto Protocol as soon as possible.

A key ingredient is technology transfer. Most developing countries are still building industrial, energy, and distribution infrastructures. Developed countries should try to ensure that only the latest and cleanest technologies are installed so that the solution is not only postponed to a later date.

This is vital in China, now home to almost one-fourth of humanity and undergoing rapid economic growth and development. Given its size, its development policies will have a global impact. According to Mark Hertsgaard, who spent 6 weeks in China studying this issue: “China is … the world’s second largest producer of greenhouse gases, trailing only the United States. With its immense coal reserves, huge population, and booming economic growth, China is very likely to triple its greenhouse emissions by 2020 …. If outsiders want China to do something about global warming, they will have to pay for it. As one Western consultant with regular access to senior Chinese officials puts it, “They know very well they can hold the world for ransom … and whenever they can extract concessions, they will.”4

Many people in the developing world might object to “hold the world for ransom” for a quite logical reason: When the now-developed countries were developing, environmental damage and pollution were non-issues. Now that others are trying to develop, the developed world wants to maintain the status quo, which is stacked in its favor, by raising standards. This charge must be addressed in such a way that those making it will accept proposed environmental regulations and policies.

A Recent Development

On July 26, 2001, Japan and other nations joined Europe in accepting the Kyoto Protocol. But the price might have been too high: a scaling back of carbon dioxide reductions, the acceptance of “carbon sinks” (that forests and other environmental reatures would absorb more greenhouse gases), and that violators would not be penalized. President Bush has not yet revealed his promised alternative.

Conclusion

Global climate change, as the phrase indicates, is a global challenge that requires a great deal of attention and resource concentration. However, it also requires political will. This is especially true with China, which endured great famines and poverty during the twentieth century. Hoping to avoid any repetition, China has embraced the late Deng Xiaoping’s policy of “to get rich is glorious.” If it comes down to a choice between development and the environment, China and other developing countries just might choose development.

Western businesses claim that the developing world will gain an unfair competitive edge if its companies are exempt from existing environmental regulations. But instead of showing such countries see that environmental protection is in their own long-term interest and helping them acquire and implement the latest technology, many Western companies relocate in countries with lax and easily subverted environmental legislation. Such short-sighted policies increase the problem’s severity, for it shows that the developed world does not really care about the environment. If this is so, how can it expect the developing world to care about it?

Hopefully, nations will find a way to protect their environments while enjoying double-digit growth figures, and their scientists and politicians will find the necessary will to solve this problem

Footnotes

1. Linda Ruth Stant, “Changes in the Earth’s Climate for the Past Two Million Years.” Online at: http://www.gly.fsu. edu/~kish/dynamic/global/LS.htm.
2. www.nrdc.org/globalWarming/nnego.asp.
3. The findings are taken from “Summary for Policy Makers: Climate Change 2001: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability.” The summary of the Working Group II report is online at: www.ipcc.ch.
4. Mark Hertsgaard, “Our Real China Problem,” The Atlantic Online (Nov. 1997). Online at: http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/97nov/china.htm

Other References

• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Online at: www.epa.gov/globalwarming.
• UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Online at: www.unfccc.de.

When Alexander Fleming first discovered penicillin in 1929, it was touted as a miracle drug, and at the time it was. After antibiotics became common, once-fatal infections became only minor inconveniences. But now it appears that bacteria, the target of antibiotics, are fighting back by developing resistance to the drugs that once killed them. In order to grasp how this has occurred, we need to understand a little more about both antibiotics and bacteria.

Antibiotics and Bacteria

Antibiotic literally means against life. Antibiotics are natural substances, compounds made by living organisms, which either kill or inhibit the growth or production of bacteria. The antibiotics we take when we are ill are manufactured. They have been altered or synthesized in order to enhance their potency or increase the range of the species they affect. Some antibiotics, such as tetracycline, interfere with the production of new bacteria by binding to ribosomes and thereby preventing them from manufacturing proteins. Others, among them penicillin, obstruct the synthesis of cell walls. Whatever their mode of operation, antibiotics hinder the proliferation of bacteria and allow the human immune system to overcome any remaining organisms.

Bacteria are complex one-celled organisms. Contrary to popular belief, most bacteria are necessary and beneficial. Beneficial bacteria aid digestion, decompose dead organisms, and often protect us from an invasion of harmful bacteria.

Genomic or chromosomal DNA in bacteria is in the form of a continuous strand. This circular DNA is located in a nucleoid.¹ A plasmid, another form of DNA, is an extra-chromosomal self-replicating structure found in bacteria cells. Plasmids, which carry genes for a variety of functions not essential for cell growth and normal survival, can be thought of as mini-chromosomes.

Compared with genomic DNA, which may contain 4 million base pairs, plasmids are small -they contain only 1,000 to 25,000 base pairs. A bacterial cell may contain one plasmid, many copies of the same plasmid, several different kinds of plasmids, or no plasmids. It is generally believed that DNA in plasmids helps bacterial cells to overcome the various stresses in their environment. One such survival mechanism is a gene or several genes for antibiotic resistance. Plasmids also may carry genes for virulence. For example, the severe food-borne disease caused by a strain of E. coli is a plasmid-based illness.

Reproducing and Exchanging Genetic Material

As bacteria usually reproduce through binary fission, or splitting to form two identical daughter cells, there is no recombination of DNA. However, many bacteria do exchange and then recombine genetic information through transformation, transduction, or conjugation. All three techniques have been exploited by specialists involved in the genetic engineering revolution.

When a bacterium (donor) dies, the cell ruptures (lyses) and thereby sets the cellular material free in the environment. Fragments of this naked DNA are then absorbed by recipient (host) bacteria, which incorporate and recombine it with their own. This process, known as transformation, has been exploited to produce such transgenic organisms as cows or plants that contain functional human genes.

The second method of recombination is transduction, or the exchange of genetic material by a viral carrier. Viruses that invade bacteria are called bacteriophages, or just phages by most scientists. When a phage infects a bacterium, it injects its own DNA, which then takes over the host’s metabolism and turns it into a small factory capable of assembling more phages. After it has produced a sufficient number of viruses, the cell lyses and the new phages are released and begin to infect more bacteria. If some of the host DNA is incorporated into a phage during the assembly process, an extremely rare occurrence, the defective phage still can bind to and inject its DNA into a host cell. However, it does not carry the virus’ genetic material and so cannot infect the cell. Thus it is no more than a mode of transport for DNA from one bacterium into another. As in transformation, the new DNA can be recombined with that of the host.

In the 1950s, scientists observed a third form of recombination: conjugation. This form of exchange features bacteria that are connected to each other through a tube or bridge. Donor cells carry fertility (or sex) plasmids, which allow the cell to synthesize long, thin hollow tubes called pili. The “sticky” pili bond to the cell walls of the recipient cell, and the two cells become united. A special enzyme then cuts a strand of the donor DNA, which is then transferred. Sometimes an entire chromosome is transferred and then recombined in the recipient cell. Bacteria also exchange plasmids through the conjugation bridge. This exchange is rapid and efficient. Not only do exchanges take place among bacteria of the same species, but they also cross species lines and even occur between bacteria and eukaryotic (plant and animal) cells.

Resistant Genes and Antibiotic Abuse

Resistant genes work in several ways. Certain genes prevent destruction by producing enzymes that either degrade antibiotics or alter them chemically so that they become ineffective. Another gene helps the bacteria replace the receptor site for the antibiotic, thereby preventing it from binding to the bacteria. And yet a third gene can be used to manufacture a pump that removes the antibiotic from the cell.

When antibiotics are taken, the bacterial cells that are susceptible to the drug die. But some cells may survive. Those cells then reproduce and pass on that resistance to the daughter cells. This often happens when too little of a drug is used or if it is not taken over a long-enough period. If patients do not take enough of their prescribed medication or stop taking it after a few days, they are promoting resistance. Another problem is that non-life-threatening illnesses, such as acne and chronic ear infections, often are treated with low doses of antibiotics over a long period of time. This practice also aids the development of resistant genes.

Many patients view antibiotics as a quick cure, and unfortunately doctors succumb to demands to prescribe them even if they are not necessary. Although antibiotics do not kill viruses, they are prescribed for patients who do not want to be told just to go home, rest, and drink plenty of fluid. Unless a culture is done to identify the infection, a doctor can only guess which anti-biotic to use. Increasingly stronger or broader-spectrum antibiotics are employed in cases involving unidentified infections, which can be analogous to killing a fly with a machine gun. Most minor illnesses will succumb to the body’s immune system. Furthermore, we need to remember that the symptoms being treated are the body’s reaction to invasions by pathogens.

In many developing countries, antibiotics are available without prescription and are taken inappropriately. Some pharmaceutical companies offer doctors bonuses and gifts for every prescription they write, and so antibiotics are overprescribed.

The United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) reports that over 40 percent of all antibiotics produced in the U.S. are given to animals. Low doses of antibiotics are routinely fed over the lifetime of meat-producing animals to promote growth and improve feed conversion. This practice creates a perfect environment for the development of resistant genes. One example, which already has produced dire consequences, is the emergence of a strain of salmonella that is resistant to several antibiotics commonly used to treat it.

Antibiotics are routinely sprayed on crops to treat and prevent disease. Although bacteria that invade plants are not harmful to people, many are related to those which cause such food-borne illnesses as E. coli, salmonella, and shigella.² If plant bacteria develop resistance, they could pass it on to bacteria that infect humans. There also appears to be evidence that we acquire resistant bacteria from our food. One researcher, Denis E. Corpet of the National Institute of Agricultural Research, has discovered that the amount of resistant bacteria humans obtain from food is quite significant. When his volunteers went on a diet of bacteria-free food, the quantity of resistant bacteria in their feces diminished by 1,000-fold.

Merri Moken, a student in Morristown, NJ, found that bacteria quickly developed resistance to common household disinfectants. The consequences of the proliferation of new anti-bacterial soaps, steering wheels, sponges, toys, and toothbrushes that we have seen in the past few years could be quite serious if it is causing an increase in resistance.

Solutions and Conclusions

The first step in combating resistance should be to reduce the number of antibiotics used for treating illness. When possible, doctors should identify the pathogen before prescribing antibiotics. Patients should complete the full course of antibiotic treatment by taking all of their medication instead of saving some for later. They also should not demand these drugs for colds or minor infections. Second, developing countries should enact legislation to control sales of antibiotics without prescriptions.

Another important step is a drastic reduction in the use of antibiotics in agriculture. Routine feeding of antibiotics to meat-producing animals needs to be prohibited. Some European countries, Sweden for example, have banned the use of these drugs for growth promotion. Consumers should demand antibiotic-free meat. The practice of spraying fruit and vegetable crops, even though they are not infected, also needs to stop, and consumers should be encouraged to wash all produce thoroughly in order to remove bacteria and antibiotic residues.

Consumers need to consider the consequences of overusing disinfectants and anti-bacterial products. Generally, washing your hands with ordinary soap is all that is necessary if we have been exposed bacteria in public places. Perhaps more education on the necessity of bacteria is another solution.

Finally, new antibiotic drugs need to be developed so that we will continue to have a last line of defense against resistance genes. Other research designed to improve our understanding of all of the mechanisms of resistance could perhaps result in a new family of drugs. In our ever-shrinking world, it has become essential for us to consider the significance of our impact on other organisms, including bacteria. Bacteria were created with a purpose and are indispensable. So let’s stop waging war on all of them. We need the susceptible bacteria as our allies against those which are resistant

Footnotes

1. Plasmoid: The part of a bacterium or virus that contains nucleic acid and is analogous in function to the nucleus of a eukaryotic cell.
2. E. coli: A bacillus (Escherichia coli) normally found in the human gastrointestinal tract and existing as numerous strains, some of which are responsible for diarrheal diseases; Salmonella: Any of various rod-shaped bacteria of the genus salmonella, many of which are pathogenic, causing food poisoning, typhoid, and paratyphoid fever in humans and other infectious diseases in domestic animals; Shigella: Any of various nonmotile, rod-shaped bacteria of the genus shigella, which includes some species that cause dysentery.

References

• Ambile-Cuevas, et.al. “Antibiotic Resistance.” American Scientist 83, no. 4 (Jul.-Aug. 1995).
• “Antimicrobial Resistance: An Ecological Perspective.” American Society for Microbiology. (1999). Online at: www.asmusa.org/acasrc/pdfs/Antimicrobial rpt.pdf.
• Center for Disease Control Antibiotic Resistance Page. Online at: www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/antibioticresistance/default.htm
• Center for Science in the Public Interest Antibiotic Resistance Project. Online at: www.cspinet.org/ar/index.html
• “Chemotherapy of Bacterial Infections.” Online at: www.life.umd.edu/classroom/bsci424/Chemotherapy/Chemotherapy.htm
• Copet, D. E. “Antibiotic Resistance from Food.” New England Journal of Medicine, 318 (1988): 1206-7.
• Davies, Julian. “Bacteria on the Rampage.” Nature (Sept. 1996): 219-20.
• Levy, Stuart. “The Challenge of Antibiotic Resistance.” Scientific American (Mar. 1998): 46-54.
• “The Microbial World.” Univ. of Edinburgh. Online at: http://helios.bto.ed.ac.uk/bto/microbes/penicill.htm
• European Commission Directorate B-Science and Health Opinions. “Opinion of the Scientific Steering Committee on Antimicrobial Resistance.” (1999). Online at: http://europa.eu.int/comm/food/fs/sc/ssc/out50_en.pdf
• Seachrist, L. “Infections Making a Deadly Comeback.” Science News (20 Jan. 1996): 38. “Types of Antibiotics and Related Resistance Genes.” Online at: http://biosafety.ihe.be/AR/ ARmenu.html
• Washington State University Microbiology. Online at: www.wsu.edu:8080/~hurlbert/pages/Chap9.html

Another important ingredient was their refusal to consider variations within a given race. As shown below, findings were extrapolated to cover an entire race, regardless of original sample size, and undesirable individual variations either were explained away or qualified to obtain the desired results. Given their discovery of new animal and plant species due to variations within the overall species, it is surprising that they did not extend this to people. Even more surprising is that this continues in our own time.

All of these led to one conclusion: the white race is forever superior to non-white races. Results have been and continue to be devastating.

Early Pseudoscience

During the Age of Enlightenment, objective scientists tried to prove that a races intelligence is determined by the distance between the navel and the male genitalia, skull size, slant of facial characteristics (distorted to make Africans appear more like gorillas or monkeys), brain weight and size, facial features (blacks have longer faces than whites, and so are closer to apes) and the assumed time of closing of sutures in the brain (non-white ones closed first in the brain’s front, where intelligence was asserted to be located; those of whites closed last). When the data did not give the desired results, theories were dropped, heavily qualified to give the right data, or sometimes forged outright. The result always was the same: Whites were superior to non-whites. A related theory held that the races evolved at different rates. This time dark-skinned Australian Aborigines came in last, followed by Africans.

Such leading figures as Voltaire and Hume compared Africans to animals who could never hope to equal Europeans. Cornelius de Pauw wrote that the sun had destroyed the most delicate and subtle organs of the [Africans’] brain. The damage was irreversible.(1) Other scientists devised various racial groups, always placing whites on top.

Scientific Racism in America

Looking for ways to justify slavery and genocide against Native Americans in a self-proclaimed land of human equality and liberty, Americans turned to science. When combined with the mania for measurement in the second half of the nineteenth century, racism became more acceptable. Several theories were developed, as follows:

Polygenism: Each race had its own Adam and Eve. Louis Agassiz, a major polygenist who emigrated to America in 1840, stated that the Biblical account referred only to Caucasians. Blacks could have equal legal rights with whites, but certainly not social equality, for they had the intelligence level of children. And, as they were not the same life form as whites, they did not need to enjoy equality. This theory never gained wide acceptance in the American South, where Biblical justifications for slavery and racial hierarchy held sway.(2) American pre-Adamites claimed that the Negro was a beast of the field created by God on the fifth day to labor for the ultimate object of God’s creation: white people.(3)

Crainiology: This European pseudoscience held that skull size determined intelligence. Samuel Morton

(d. 1851), a leading American scientist, used it to rank races. Practitioners made their work appear to be scientific by accepting their prejudices as facts and then working backwards to discover supporting data. Any incorrect results and methodological errors were explained away, severely qualified, or ignored.

Physiognomy and Phrenology: Adherents taught that physical variations in color and appearance cause intellectual and moral differences. Physiognomy involved telling one’s mental and moral capabilities by studying his or her face. Phrenology asserted that mental faculties are located in brain organs on the brain’s surface. As usage determines the organ’s size, the skull’s bumps and indentations disclose a person’s emotional and intellectual functions. Phrenology was discredited in the 1830s, but remained influential in England, Australia, and America until the end of the century.

Laying the Foundations for Genocide

The Industrial Revolution of the late eighteenth century allowed certain European countries, and then America, to attain military and economic superiority. When combined with prevailing prejudices and Darwin’s findings during the mid-nineteenth century, some members of the elite saw the disappearance of inherently inferior peoples as natural and even desirable. For example:

Herbert Spencer, Social Statistics (1850): The forces which are working out the great scheme of perfect happiness, taking no account of incidental suffering, exterminate such sections of mankind as stand in their way. Be he human or be he brute”the hindrance must be got rid of.(4)

Eduard von Hartmann, Philosophy of the Unconscious (1869): The true philanthropist, if he has comprehended the natural law of anthropological evolution, cannot avoid desiring an acceleration of the last convulsion [the extinction of savages who are on the verge of extinction], and labor for that end.(5)

W. Winwood Reade, Savage Africa (1864): We must learn to look at this result [the extinction of Africans] with composure. It illustrates the beneficent law of nature, that the weak must be devoured by the strong.(6)

Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man (1871): At some future period not very distant as measured in centuries, the civilised races of man will almost

certainly exterminate and replace throughout the world the savage races.(7) Darwin’s struggle for survival and survival of the fittest made the disappearances of whole peoples, even races, inevitable and therefore acceptable.

These people were among the leading intellectuals of their time.

The Result: Nazi Germany

Germany was one of the most advanced European nations of this time. Basing itself firmly within this tradition, the Nazis began to determine who had the right to live. Surprisingly, or maybe not, they were helped by American scientific data.

Fritz Lenz (1887-1970), a leading German racial hygienist in the 1920s, argued that race is the ultimate principle of value, for genes determined mental and physical traits and environmental factors have no discernable effect. He based his claims on WWI US army intelligence tests. When black test scores did not fit in, he claimed that extensive admixture of white blood has contributed to raise the intellectual level of the colored population.(8) He asserted that blacks suffer developmental retardation after puberty and thus are inherently cruel, childlike, irresponsible, sexually promiscuous, and lack self-restraint. He had only this praise: they are good with their hands and can be trained in the manual crafts. The effects of slavery, Jim Crow legislation, social exclusion, and enforced ignorance, among other social realities, meant nothing. In Outline of Human Genetics and Racial Hygiene (1923), which was praised in America, he cited Plato’s social hierarchy of gold (rulers), silver (artisans), and bronze (slaves) as a justification for social inequities.

Nazi leaders claimed to have learned from other American precedents, such as:

Sterilizing inferiors. This began in America, when Indiana became the first state (1907) to sterilize the mentally ill and criminally insane. Other states followed; the Nazis just expanded the definition to racial, political, and other undesirables who had no right to live because they were a burden on the German Aryan race.

Outlawing racial intermarriage. The Nazis outlawed Aryan and non-Aryan intermarriage (1935), drawing on the American South’s and South Africa’s antimiscenegation laws. Earlier, in 1908, Germans were forbidden to marry natives of German Southwest Africa (now Namibia), and all such marriages were voided on the grounds that only defective individuals would result.

Controlled immigration. America passed a series of immigration restriction laws in 1924. H. H. Goddard, a popularizer of Binet’s work in the field of intelligence measuring, linked undesirable behavior to supposed mental deficiency. He and his associates would determine whether arriving immigrants at Ellis Island should be admitted or not. Possible influences of the lack of education, the trauma of immigrating, being tested in an unknown language, illness, effects of a difficult sea voyage, and other mitigating factors were raised and then dismissed in favor of hereditary. According to his scale, four-fifths of all Jewish, Hungarian, Italian, and Russian immigrants were feeble-minded. He recanted his theories in 1928.

American Variants

Such pseudoscientific theories have fallen into disfavor due to the horrors of Nazi race-based genocide and medical experimentation, the social and legal reform policies of the 1950s and 1960s, and scientific and social research showing the biases and flaws of such research. However, old ideas often appear in a new garb, as seen in Richard J. Herrnstein’s and Charles Murray’s controversial The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life (1996). IQ Tests: IQ (intelligence quotient) tests remain a standard feature of American education. Its originator Alfred Binet, disillusioned with crainiology and the supposed physical traits of criminals and other inferiors, developed this technique in 1904 as one part of determining a child’s mental level. It consists of a series of random tasks ranked in order of difficulty. When the child stops, his or her mental age is calculated. Binet said that intelligence is too complex to capture with a single number, and wanted to free a beautiful native intelligence from the trammels of the school.(9)

Ever since, American researchers have tried to prove him wrong, even though there is no agreed-upon definition for intelligence. Criticisms of this methodology abound. Scholars assert that IQ tests are culturally biased in favor of urban whites and ignore non-white social realities. A major reality is white flight from increasingly non-white inner cities, for minorities tend to settle in large cities. Lost tax revenues mean less-qualified teachers, deteriorating facilities, and non-current technology and curriculum. This causes an exodus of good students to private schools, which deprives the remaining students of inspiring peer group role models. When added to such other urban realities as poverty, poor nutrition, violence and gangs, drugs and alcohol, many minority students give up. They see racism blocking their parents or relatives, even if they are educated. If education cannot free them from racism, why should they pursue it? Completing a vicious circle, the resulting low IQ test scores prove intellectual inferiority.

As IQ scores are held to be unalterable, minority students are forever stigmatized as somehow intellectually deficient.(10) Psychosurgery: This procedure, after finding little success in Europe, spread to America. It claimed to calm agitated mental patients and others, without harming other mental functions, by severing nerves connected to the temporal and frontal cortex, which control emotional behavior and aggressiveness. Walter Freeman and James Watts developed the Freeman-Watts Standard Procedure for prefrontal lobotomies. Freeman later developed the ice-pick lobotomy, which was as grisly as it sounds. Dr. Antanio Egas Moniz received the Nobel Prize for Medicine and Physiology (1949) for creating the prefrontal leucotomy. Popular from 1939-51, it gradually fell out of favor due to ethical concerns, medical drugs that treated the same symptoms, and devastating side effects. During its acceptability, it was used in America and elsewhere to control prisoners, the insane, political dissidents/rebels, and even unruly children and troublesome relatives.(11)

In the 1950s, American physicians Vernon Mark, Frank Ervin, and William Sweet were given almost $1 million by the government to prove their theory: urban rebellions were caused by brain damaged individuals who could be cured by psychosurgery (lobotomy).(12) The social and economic reasons for such rebellions were not considered. Genetic Predispositions to Violence: The belief that everything has a chemical or medical solution is currently very strong in the American medical community and the general population at large. Even the government has lent its support. Consider the following examples: In February 1992, Frederick Goodwin informed the National Health Advisory Council of supposed similarities between monkeys and blacks: a tendency toward violence and killing off each other, links between hyper-aggressive and hyper-sexuality to perpetuate the species, and a loosening of social controls that whites have imposed upon themselves over thousands of years of their evolution. His reward, despite public outcry: appointed head of the influential National Institute of Mental Health. His first act: approved funding for the National Violence Initiative.(13) Calling it the government’s highest science priority, he says it applies the tools of behavior genetics to detect biological markers in at risk inner city children and to treat them with drugs at a very early age before they have become criminalized.(14) One of his publications calls for more attention to biological and genetic factors in violent crime, more research on new pharmaceuticals that reduce violent behavior, and asks researchers to determine whether male or black persons have a higher potential for violence, and if so, why?(15) The Human Genome Project: This $3 billion effort is designed to map our entire genetic code so that cures for genetically related diseases can be found. Some of those involved in it, however, say that discoveries will help cure society of crime, poverty, and other social ills.(16) Racial Profiling: This practice is linked with the war on drugs, gangs, and terrorist threats. Made official policy during the Clinton administration, there is now a strong push to have it abolished due to police and airport policies that are considered harassment, unjustified, and race-based. High-profile cases have taken place in New York City (Abner Luima and Amadou Diallo, both black immigrants), Los Angeles (Rodney King), and elsewhere. Many other incidents go unreported and unpublicized.

Current Research

According to the Breggins, well-established opponents of such practices, we have reached the following point: Against this background of expectations and beliefs, scientists and doctors are attempting to address violence [among non-whites] as a disease: The U.S. Public Health Service has launched a public health campaign against violence, focusing upon vulnerable individuals. The most powerful psychiatrist in the federal government has publicly promoted the screening and preventive treatment of inner-city children”those with a presumed biological and genetic predisposition to become violent when they grow older. Federal agencies, foundations, and private industry are pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into finding the genetic source of social behavior. Once it is found,drug treatments can be developed and administered to those who arebiologically or genetically disposed to violence. Supporters of the federal Human Genome Project suggest that science is on the verge of locating genes that predispose people to everything from poverty and unemployment to alcoholism and crime. Anticipating such discoveries, the Human Genome Project has funded a conference called Genetic Factors in Crime. Researchers and clinicians alike are frequently quoted in the media as citing genetic predispositions for every possible psychological and social problem, from inattentive behavior in school to alcoholism, schizophrenia, crime, and violence. The view that widespread violence can be best defined and treated as an individual disorder ignores other vast influences, including social, economic, educational, environmental and cultural differences in experience. The reduction of human experience to an expression of DNA or a wholly biological event shows an underlying bias and ideology”even though it is presented as objective research.(17)

Conclusion

Biological and genetic predeterminism seek to justify the status quo instead of trying to solve such existing social problems as, among others, race-based poverty, segregation, discrimination in housing and employment, substandard education, lack of equal opportunity, and violence. In this respect, they deny many core assumptions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam: human equality and respect, individual responsibility, the value of education, the possibility of self-improvement, and the ultimate triumph of the human will by connection with the Divine.

Footnotes

1 Scott Foutz, Ignorant Science: The Eighteenth Century’s Development of a Scientific Racism. Quodlibet Journal 1, no. 8 (December 1999). Online at: www.Quodlibet.net.

2 Genesis 9: 20-27 was interpreted in such a way that Ham and his descendents were forever cursed to be a race of servants because Ham had looked upon Noah as he lay naked and drunk. The Qur’an does not mention this.

3 Robert Proctor, Racial Hygiene: Medicine under the Nazis (Cambridge, MA: 1988), 13.

4 Sven Lindqvist, Exterminate All the Brutes. Tr. Joan Tate (New York: 1996), 8.

5 Ibid., 9.

6 Ibid., 131.

7 Ibid., 107.

8 Proctor, Racial Hygiene, 48, 52.

9 Stephen Gould, The Mismeasure of Man (New York: 1996), 180, 181.

10 These and other arguments are discussed fully in Claude Fischer et al., Inequality by Design (Princeton: 1996); Russell Jacobi and Naomi Glauberman, eds., The Bell Curve Debate (New York and London: 1995); and Ashley Montagu ed., Race & IQ Expanded Edition (New York 1999).

11 Renato M. E. Sabbatini, The History of Psychosurgery, Brain & Mind Magazine (June: 1997). Online at: www.epub.org.br/cm/n02/ historia/lobotomy.htm.

12 Mitchel Cohen, Beware the Violence Initiative Project ” Coming Soon to an Inner City Near You, Synthesis/Regeneration 19 (Spring 1999). Online at: www.greens.org/s-r/19/19-07.html. This article recounts medical experiments conducted on minority children since 1992, and shows the close relationship between researchers and pharmaceutical companies.

13 Ibid.

14 Washington Post (29 July 1992). Online at: www.breggin.com/Mehlerart.html.

15 Frederick Goodwin, Understanding and Preventing Violence, (National Academy of Sciences and the National Research Council: 1992). Partially funded by the Centers for Disease Control, the U.S. Justice Department, and the National Science Foundation. Online at: www.breggin.com/Mehlerart.html.

16 Ibid.

17 Excerpted from Peter Roger Breggin and Ginger Ross Breggin, The War Against Children of Color: Psychiatry Targets Inner-City Youth (Monroe, ME: 1998). Online at: www.ftrbooks.com/psych/ breggin/ war_against_children.htm.

The Internet is a whole new world for everyone. If your children are not online, they probably will soon be joining the 10 million children already using the Internet.

What Is on the Internet?

Basically, the Internet is a great place for children. The good news is that it offers them educational and rewarding experiences, and that its effective use just might improve their school performance.

There are some disadvantages as well, such as inaccurate information and various inappropriate and uncomfortable information areas. Families and teachers should be aware of this potential problem. Just as parents do not allow their children to wonder alone in unknown territory, they should not allow them to interact on the Internet without parental guidance and supervision.

If parents worry that their children know more about the Internet and computers than they do, they can use this as an opportunity to have their children teach them about the Internet, such as where they like to go and what they like to do. Encourage children to talk about what is good and not-so-good about their Internet experience.

What Are the Risks?

Different Internet tools (e.g., chat, instant messaging, e-mail, news groups, and Web page) offer different kinds of risks and benefits.

Statistically, probably the greatest risk is that children will encounter mean or very unpleasant people in chat areas and news groups. Another risk is that they will spend a lot of time in areas that are not very productive. Other risks might be:

Loss of privacy (legal and financial, password, credit card number and private information)

Getting into online fights

Making threats and breaking the law

Viewing inappropriate material

Getting inaccurate information

Putting people in danger

Getting into drugs, alcohol, tobacco and other dangerous substances

Gambling and other inappropriate behavior.

What Parents Can Do

Keeping children safe on the Internet is everyone’s job. Parents must talk with their children about inappropriate behavior and stay in close touch as their children explore the Internet. By taking responsibility for children’s online computer use, parents can minimize any potential risks. Here are some suggestions:

Spend time online with your children. Your involvement is the best insurance of your children’s safety.

Teach children not to give out personal information (i.e., name, address, school name or address), especially in chat rooms and on bulletin boards.

Share your children’s e-mail account and password.

Teach them not to plan a face-to-face meeting with online acquaintances.

Keep the computer in the family area to better monitor their activity.

Spend time online with your children regularly to learn about their interests and activities.

Teach them how to end any uncomfortable or scary online experience by pressing the back key

Establish an atmosphere of trust and understanding by not blaming them for uncomfortable online experiences.

Discuss the difference between advertising and educational or entertaining content. Show your children examples each.

Tell them not to respond to offensive or dangerous e-mail, chat requests, or communications, and to leave if a Web site makes them uncomfortable.

Tell them to show you anything they receive that makes them uncomfortable.

Remember that anything you read online may not be true.

Explain that people in chat rooms are not always who they say they are.

If you become worried that your children in danger, contact the authorities.

Some Safety Tips to Help Children Online

Do not give out personal information (i.e., last name, phone number, credit card number, address, where you go to school, parent’s work address/phone number) without your parent’s permission.

Tell your parents right away if you come across anything that makes you uncomfortable.

Never send your picture or anything else without first asking your parents.

Never agree to get together with an online friend, without your parent’s permission. Meeting such people is usually a really bad idea. How people are in real life can be very different from how they are online. If you decide to do it anyway, be sure that it is in a public place and bring your parents along.

Do not open up e-mails, files, unknown attachments, or Web pages that you get from people that you do not know or trust.

Always follow your family’s rules for the Internet

Remember that honesty is the best policy. Not everyone believes this, however, so watch yourself when you are in cyberspace. Remember that since you cannot see or hear the other person, it is for a 40-year-old man to present himself as a 12-year-old girl.

Avoid chat rooms or discussion areas that look sketchy or provocative, and do not let people online trick you into thinking of them as real-life friends if you have never met them in person. Also, avoid online fights, because if you are looking for trouble on the Internet you will find it, and things can get out of hand very quickly.

The Internet, the World Wide Web, the information superhighway, and cyberspace describe the newest and most innovative and exciting learning tool of recent years. Remember that it is not the technology, but how it is used, that makes a difference.

Spending time online with your children is one of the best ways to learn and teach responsibility, good conduct, and values that are important to you. Ask your children to share their favorite Web sites and what they like about them. Work with them to discover Web sites that will help them with their homework, hobbies, and other special interests. Also, teach your children to be wise consumers in cyberspace. Not everything they see or hear may be true. Some sites may be trying to sell them something.

The vast majority of Internet sites are perfectly safe. But like the real world, the virtual world contains sites with sexual, violent, and other content that may not be appropriate for children. Since different families have different standards, it is important that parents establish clear Internet guidelines for their children.

If you have a home computer, several software programs are available to block objectionable Web sites. Even if filters were 100 percent effective, however, this software is no substitute for parental guidance. We strongly recommend that you supervise your children’s Internet use, and that you teach them how to make informed choices

References

• CyberAngels, Internet Safety Organization: http://www.cyberangels.org.
• Internet Use Survey: http://www.cyberdialogue. com/products/isg/aius/index.html.
• Safeguarding Our Children United Mothers: http://www.soc-um.org/.
• SafeKids: http://www.safekids.com/.