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This is a column about the number three. Three recent news items, seemingly unrelated, that combine to paint a pretty scary picture and the answer to the question, "What would you ask for if you were granted three wishes?"
Let's start with the wishes.
We've all pondered that fantasy question once or twice in our lifetimes. What to wish for, what to want when all limitations are removed? We've all run down the same laundry list of items. Uncountable wealth, immeasurable fame, a 100-room mansion, a yacht, a Rolls Royce, world peace. And then we get down to the heart of the matter--the wish of all wishes, the creme de la creme of all inner musings: eternal life.
Even before Ponce de Leon first spoke of a fountain of youth, the notion of eternal life has toyed with man's psyche unmercifully. Can you imagine the relief in knowing that you'll never grow old? The joy in actually watching your children's children's children enter the world? How about the unsurpassed knowledge you would possess, watching fads, eras, cultures and nations come and go while you lived on?
Of course, I haven't even addressed the real appeal behind the search for eternal life--the big unknown. Most of us believe in heaven. A place of eternal rest and peace. A reward for a life well lived. A time when life's questions will be answered as we sit in the presence of our lord.
Yes, most of us believe in heaven because that's the only choice we've got. It's the hand we've been dealt. Even the great Houdini himself so far has reneged on his promise to return from the grave and give us the real skinny on heaven and the afterlife.
When it comes to heaven, there is no smoking gun, so we cling steadfastly to our belief. But what if we never had to face that great unknown? What if we could keep alive the notion of heaven by never having it challenged? What if we had eternal life?
Back to the three news items.
President George W. Bush denies aid to foreign companies that are involved in birth control and abortion. The Human Genome project sets an end date of June 2003. The U.S. Census projects that the world population will grow another 50 percent over the next 50 years.
Taken separately, each story is interesting, if not just a wee bit alarming. Taken together, however, the three items are frighteningly apocalyptic, on a biblical scale.
Six billion, one hundred fifty-seven million, four hundred thousand, five hundred and sixty.
That's the current number of people on Earth--plus the roughly 500 babies that have been born since you started reading this column. It's also 77 million more people than rang in the new millennium last January.
Nine billion, one hundred four million, two hundred five thousand, eight hundred thirty.
That's the projected world population at the close of the year 2050. What this means is that for every person on Earth today, there will be one and a half people in 2050. Or how about thinking of it this way. If there are four people in your family now, there will be six in 2050. A family of eight now will be 12, and so on.
Now think about what a tremendous burden this overpopulation of man will put on our fragile Mother Earth. Fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas will be used at a much higher rate and run the risk of being fatally depleted.
Higher usage of automobiles and fluorocarbons will increase pollution levels and decrease the Ozone layer. Three billion more mouths to feed means further taxing of the world's already insufficient food supply. Finally, the highest percentage of growth will come from the world's poorest nations and from the poorest segments of wealthy ones, meaning an economic burden that even the mighty United States may not be able to bear.
Rosy picture, isn't it?
And we haven't even taken into account the other two items yet. The Human Genome Project was launched in the mid-1980s to discover the approximately 80,000 specific human genes that are present in DNA. A "working draft" was completed in 2000 and by 2003, the project should be complete.
What does it mean? Many genetic physicists believe that the first person who will live forever already has been born--that's what it means. With detailed knowledge of the DNA sequence, scientists will have unlimited potential for medical applications.
Need a new liver? They'll grow you one in a test tube.
Have Leukemia? They'll isolate the gene responsible for the over-production of white blood cells and eliminate it. I
f worse comes to worst, they'll clone you and begin anew.
In practical terms, the Human Genome Project will allow people to live longer, healthier lives.
This development is not reflected in the population numbers I've given you above. Those projections are based on today's life expectancy charts--charts that soon will be obsolete.
Also, not reflected above is the impact of President Bush's decision to pull funding from foreign companies involved with birth control and abortion products. Without taking on the question of morality, the fact is that if every baby were born that is now aborted or prevented through birth control, you can add another billion or so people to the projected 2050 number.
All in all, it's a rather bleak forecast that no world leaders seem ready or able to address.
Honesty time.
How many of you over the age of 30 who are reading this have done the math in your head and said, Thank God I probably won't be around to see it? How many of you would trade eternal life for a quick, painless death on your three wishes list?
Unfortunately, our children and grandchildren will have to lie in the bed that we've failed to make.
How do we fix things? That's a question for another well-known three--the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.