My last week’s Op/Ed indicated a number of vivid contrasts between America and the rest of the world. (If 100 people represent the world’s population of 6 billion, 5 people live in the U. S., 95 live in the rest of the world, and 67 of the 95 live in the 10/40 window, that area bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the west, the Pacific Ocean on the east, and the ten degree and forty degree lines north of the equator. See the rectangle in the view of the world below). These five people could hardly be more fortunate as those contrasts show.

The column ended with the questions; "how should ‘the five’ react? Why has the United States been so blessed?"

Continuing to believe in our economy, to invest in it, to be as productive as we can, and if possible to buy products that are "made in the USA" are various desirable reactions.

"The five" should certainly want to help those less fortunate and we have in innumerable ways. There have been billions of dollars in foreign aid; billions worth of food and humanitarian efforts, and military action that has kept several dictators or terrorists from gaining power over the world. Missionaries have been sent to almost all of the impoverished countries. There has been military aid for allies and free countries, for defense against those who would take them over if that military aid were absent.

Now we stand on the brink of seeing the gulf widen even further between the U. S. and some of the 50 countries in that 10/40 window. It does not make any sense to embrace the religions of these countries as harmless in comparison with our Judeo-Christian heritage. The differences are huge - regardless of some claims. The overall plight of many of the 50 countries in the 10/40 window is quite heavily tied to their domination by Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam.

One thing "the five" should have learned from the events of these last few years; all philosophies are not the same; some ARE better than others. With the collapse of the atheistic Soviet Union, and the fact that approximately 90 percent of the people in these 50 countries of the 10/40 window are among the poorest of the poor in the entire world, the evidence is quite conclusive.

One of the bad reactions of some of "the five" is to decide to live without responsibility. Addictions, a life of crime, bad habits, and immoral lifestyles contradict the obvious obligations of citizens in the most blessed country of all time in the entire world. Unfortunately, perceptions about the U.S. are indeed conveyed by TV and movies to those who live in many of the countries we should be affecting positively.

A 1997 book, "A History of Christianity" by the famous historian Kenneth S. Latourette summarizes the contrasts well: "across the centuries Christianity has been the means of reducing more languages to writing than have all other factors combined. It has created more schools . and more systems than has any other one force. More than any other power in history it has impelled men to fight suffering, whether that suffering has come from disease, war, or natural disaster. It has built thousands of hospitals, inspired the emergence of nursing and medical professions (and over 40 scientific disciplines), and furthered movements for public health and the relief and prevention of famine. The list might go on indefinitely. It includes ideals in government, the reform of prisons and the emergence of criminology, great art and architecture (and music), and outstanding literature."

Despite its critics and notwithstanding the shortcomings of some of its self-proclaimed adherents over the centuries, every other influence is dwarfed by comparison.

Dr. Malcolm Cutchins is an emeritus professor of engineering of Auburn University and writes a weekly column for The Opelika-Auburn News.