THE 100,000
MANDEAN FAITH THREATENED WITH EXTINCTION
Artist impression of John The Baptist preaching a sermon on the banks of River Jordan
Cartoon Source:Paula Nash Giltner
Alexandra
Barton, Abdulmumini Adeku[Lagos, Nigeria]
At least the
about 100,000 Man deans in the world today are believed to be continually under
threat for various reasons among st which includes the rising wave of Islamic extremism
in The Middle East and Environmental Pollution of major river, streams, pools
around the world.
Checks by The News office Desk
of the E.N.M.Paedia Express Multimedia Group of Lagos,Nigeria,shows that while
the issue of extremism and other anti-social vices could be handled militarily
,concise efforts have to be made to sort the problems created by bad water in
Middle East so that clean and good water
,which is the primary source of worship of the Mandeans will be available for
them at all times.
The Middle East has
experienced many environmental concerns lately. Water resources are becoming
increasingly scarce, especially for the millions there who already lack access
to sanitary water. Some of these countries, including Yemen, the United Arab
Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq, are facing unique problems that require
global, immediate attention. Beside their neighboring location ,
one shared factor of all these countries is their lack of water resources and
poor water management.
The
Middle East has some of the largest oil reserves in
the world, which produces most of the area's wealth. Even so, the
region's climate and environment make living harsh. The Middle East requires
water resources and suitable land for agriculture. Much of the land that is
available for producing food is destroyed by increasing desertification.
Desertification
is a sweeping environmental
problem, with vast effects in countries such as Syria, Jordan, Iraq,
and Iran. Universal causes for a spread of arid environment are unsustainable
agriculture practices and overgrazing. Agriculture uses 85 percent of water in
this region. It is common to misuse land by heavy irrigation in the Middle
East. In the area droughts are more frequent, and contribute to the changing landscape.
The overuse of water in agriculture is affecting the countries' already
undersized water resources.
Jordan,
located in the Syrian Desert, and Yemen, on the southern tip of the Arabian
Peninsula, both endure severe water
scarcity in the Middle East. For example, Jordan's average freshwater withdrawal is
less than ten percent of Portugal's average, despite being the same size. The cost of water in Jordan
increased thirty percentin ten years, due to a quick shortage of
groundwater. Yemen has one of the highest worldwide rates of malnutrition; over thirty percent of its
population does not meet their food needs . In recent years,
Yemen has not been able to produce enough food to sustain its populations.
Water scarcity has damaged the standard of living for inhabitants of the Middle
East.
The
United Arab Emirates, located on the Arabian Peninsula, is famous for its luxurious cities filled
with lavish resorts, shopping, and attractions. The livelihoods of these
extravagant emirates might create the assumption that water scarcity is not a
problem for these rich states. In reality, however, the UAE is confronted with
a serious depletion of their available water resources. A report from the
Emirates Industrial Bank in 2005 said that the UAE had the highest per capita
consumption of water in the world. Additionally, for the past thirty
years the water table of this region has dropped about one meter
per year. At this current rate, the UAE will deplete its natural
freshwater resources in about fifty years. Even with a large amount of
desalination plants to reduce water deficiency, the UAE needs to adjust its
water use habits before its energy consumption
doubles in 2020.
Desalination
plants are an overuse of water resources in the Middle East. Seventy percent of desalination plants in the world are
located in this area, found mostly in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Bahrain.
While the plants produce water needed for the arid region, they can manufacture
problems for health and the environment. The seawater used most in desalination
plants has high amounts of boron and bromide, and the process can also remove
essential minerals like calcium. Also, the concentrated salt is often dumped
back into oceans where the increased salinity affects
the ocean's environment. The plants harm local wildlife and add pollutants to
the region's climate. In addition, desalination is the most energy-costing
water resource. The Pacific Institute explains
that the high use of energy results in raised energy prices and higher prices
on water produced, hurting the consumer. The water produced can be beneficial
towards substituting any lack of freshwater, but these areas have tendencies
towards overuse of their natural resources. Concerns with the large amount of
desalination plants in the Middle East focus on the improper dependency they
will cause, instead of encouraging alternate forms of water and energy and
conserving freshwater.
The
Middle East has numerous struggles with its current water resources, and the
region needs more than one solution to generate an optimistic environmental
position for the future.
Mandaeans are a closed ethno-religious community, practicing
Mandaeism, which is a Gnostic religion. (Aramaic manda means
"knowledge," as does Greek gnosis) with a strongly
dualistic worldview. Its adherents revere Adam, Abel, Seth, Enosh, Noah, Shem, Aram and
especially John the Baptist.[44][45]
The Mandaeans group existence into two main categories: light
and dark. They have a dualistic view of life, that encompasses both good and
evil; all good is thought to have come from the World of Light (i.e.
lightworld) and all evil from the World of Darkness. In relation to the body–mind dualism coined by Descartes,
Mandaeans consider the body, and all material, worldly things, to have come
from the Dark, while the soul (sometimes referred to as the mind) is a product
of the lightworld. Mandaeans believe the World of Light is ruled by a heavenly
being, known by many names, such as “Life,” “Lord of Greatness,” “Great Mind,”
or “King of Light”.[46] This
being is so great, vast, and incomprehensible that no words can fully depict
how awesome Life is. It is believed that an innumerable number of beings,
manifested from the light, surround Life and perform cultic acts of worship to
praise and honor this great being. They inhabit worlds separate from the
lightworld and are commonly referred to as emanations from First Life; their
names include Second, Third, and Fourth Life (i.e. Yōšamin, Abathur, and Ptahil
).[46]
The Lord of Darkness is the ruler of the World of Darkness
formed from dark waters representing chaos.[46] A
main defender of the darkworld is a giant monster, or dragon, with the name
“Ur;” an evil, female ruler also inhabits the darkworld, known as “Ruha”.[46] The
Mandaeans believe these malevolent rulers created demonic offspring who
consider themselves the owners of the Seven (planets) and Twelve (Zodiac
signs).[46]
According to Mandaean beliefs, the world is a mixture of light
and dark created by the demiurge (Ptahil) with help from dark powers, such as
Ruha, the Seven, and the Twelve.[46]Adam’s
body (i.e. believed to be the first human created by God in Christian
tradition) was fashioned by these dark beings; however, his “soul” (or mind)
was a direct creation from the Light. Therefore, many Mandaeans believe the
human soul is capable of salvation because it originates from the lightworld.
The soul, sometimes referred to as the “inner Adam” or “hidden Adam,” is in
dire need of being rescued from the Dark, so it may ascend into the heavenly
realm of the lightworld.[46] Baptisms are
a central theme in Mandaeanism, believed to be necessary for the redemption of
the soul. Mandaeans do not perform a single baptism, as in religions such as
Christianity; rather, they view baptisms as a ritualistic act capable of
bringing the soul closer to salvation.[47] Therefore,
Mandaeans get baptized repeatedly during their lives. John the Baptist is a key
figure for the Mandaeans; they consider him to have been a Mandaean (2015).
John is referred to as a “disciple” or “priest,” most known for the countless
number of baptisms he performed, which helped close the immense gap between the
soul and salvation.[48]
Today, many Mandaeans are refugees and are not willing to accept
converts into their religion.[47] Sunday,
as in other religious traditions, is their holy day, centered largely on
mythical beliefs. Some Mandaeans consider Jesus an “apostate Mandaean”.[47]
The Mandaic language is an eastern dialect of Aramaic,
although its alphabet is unique. It has mainly
survived as a liturgical language..
There are several indications of the ultimate origin of the
Mandaeans. Early religious concepts and terminologies recur in the Dead Sea Scrolls, and "Jordan" has been the name of every
baptismal water in Mandaeism.[14] The Mandaic language is a dialect of southeastern
Aramaic and is closely related to the language of the Babylonian Talmud. There is archaeological evidence that attests
to the Mandaean presence in pre-Islamic Iraq.[15][16] Some scholars, including Kurt Rudolph connect the early Mandaeans with
the Jewishsect of the Nasoraeans.[16]
It
appears that Mani, the
founder of Manichaeism, was
partly influenced by the Mandaeans.
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