A few brief musings for our singularly experienced and wise LLS constituents on the increasing appearance of connectivity as amongst rapid sociological changes in our American culture, federal and state legislators giving approbation to them, and with ongoing appellate court decisions now recognizing the evolving “will of the people” in construing developing societal mores.

In this context, observers are now witnessing judicial Constitutional approbation being given to dynamic changes in laws approved by both state legislatures, as well as Congressional fiat.

Over the decades, familiar Constitutional claims of freedom of religion, privacy, equal opportunity, and due process, (among others), have often been sustained by the courts to maintain comfortable historical Constitutional status quo in hotly contested clashes between people of good will holding strong and intractable antithetical positions upon a given subject.

However, times may be rapidly changing. A few illustrative recent examples for all to consider:

Physician-Assisted Suicide…still illegal in most states, but with a growing recognition that an aging American population may now be required to recognize carefully regulated and protected affirmative rights of its citizens to decide to end their lives. Five states now permit so doing, with likely more to swiftly follow.

Smoking …an almost total rejection of previously unrestrained smoking in all public and many private venues in a matter of a few decades has reversed almost unanimous older appellate court decisions protecting the Constitutional rights of individuals and business to permit and foster such conduct.

Vaccinations…Historically, parents not wishing to submit their children to such protocols had three Constitutionally grounded defenses against so doing: medical, religious, and philosophical. Developing state laws are limiting parental discretion.

The Death Penalty…At this moment, the Supreme Court is hearing six cases where the death penalty may possibly be prohibited as “cruel and unusual punishment.”

Same-Sex Marriage…who would have “thunk it” as being Constitutionally protected, even a few years ago?

We all are privileged to be witnessing a fascinating, fast-moving [legal] canter…where the jockey may well be the “unbridled” voice of the people, with both the judiciary and Constitution but the horse “along for the ride.”

Irving Labovitz, J.D., is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts and holds a Juris Doctor from Boston University School of Law. Currently, he is teaching an eight-week course, “Current and Contentious Legal Battles,” at FAU LLS in Jupiter on Wednesdays at 2:15 p.m. He is admitted before the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as multiple federal appellate and trial courts. His experience includes: Federal Trade Commission legal staff in Washington, D.C., military federal prosecutor, Adjunct Professor of Business Law at Western New England Law School and FAU, attorney for major banks in concentrations of bankruptcy and secured lending, and contract counsel for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in the liquidation of failed banks. He has authored many scholarly law review articles and has been a national lecturer for the American Bar Association and Commercial Law League of America. Most recently, he was general counsel for a large corporation.

Many people claim American exceptionalism but, at least in regard to fear and aversion of “the Other,” we are just like the vast majority of societies. Over most of our history, a significant majority turned against religious, ethnic or ideological minorities in our own midst accusing them of threatening “us.”  To just mention a few: anti-Native Americans, anti-African slaves and their descendants, anti-Catholics, anti-Irish-Americans, anti-Semitism, anti-Italian-Americans, anti-German-Americans, Anti-Polish-Americans, anti-Chinese and Japanese- Americans, anti-Russian or anti-communist, anti-Mexican-Americans or, more broadly, anti-Latino-Americans, anti-immigrants (esp. “undocumented immigrants”), and, the most recent, anti-Muslim (both Muslims born and living in this country and Muslims elsewhere).  It is interesting that descendants of some who have been discriminated against now use the very same arguments of experiencing threats against the more recent subject of our phobia that had been directed toward their ancestors.

The way it seems to work is that, on the basis of some negative experience or even merely memories or rumors of negative experiences, we extrapolate to arrive at the notion that the entire group posits a threat to our collective survival.  As we overcome the fear of one group, we quickly conclude that this new threat is the greatest ever.  Even in a highly individualistic society such as ours, we seem to quickly revert to collectivist/tribal thinking according to which bad action by some from another group makes us jump to the conclusion that all of them are a threat to us and need to be eliminated.

In regard to Islam and Muslims, there are, indeed, some Muslims who, allegedly in the name of Islam, have done and continue to do massively evil things. But they are a tiny radicalized minority of terrorists for whom there is a technical name,”Islamists” or “jihadists.” The followers of the “Islamist” interpretation of Islam are located in many places of the world (esp. groups like al-Qaeda, or Islamic State of Iraq and Syria/ISIL) and some can be found in the US. While they have done harm to some of us, they are, at least up to now, nowhere near the damage done by other individuals and groups in our country (or county).  If you don’t believe me, read the papers or watch the daily news.

What about the vast majority of Muslims in the US?  There may be a handful who are sympathizers of radical retaliation of actions by western nations but the vast majority of Muslims are peaceful folks whose purpose in life is no different from that of most of “us”, namely, to raise their families, earn an education and make a living, enjoy friendship with others, and follow a path of honorable and constructive living.

How do I know that?  Not only from common sense observation about the human condition here on earth but also I travelled widely in the Muslim world, had many Muslim students both American-born and foreign-born, have many Muslim friends, helped Muslim refugees, and published the writings of Muslim scholars. I taught Muslims and I learned from Muslims.  Many of them struggle with the heritage of animosity toward “others” found in their holy book and in their tradition in the same way that the rest of us struggle when confronted by animosities of our own holy books and religious or secular traditions.  If you were to ask would I be concerned about living among Muslims, I would answer, “no more than living among any other people.”

My appeal is not to allow our phobias, including Islamophobia, to make a lie out of the words of our national anthem, regarding the claim that we live in “the land of the free and the home of the brave.”  If we live in fear either because we are threatened by those whom we despise or feel threatened by those who despise us, we are not free. Nor are we brave when we continue to nurture phobias. The solution is simple. Venture to meet as many Muslims as you can.  Get to know them as persons.  Will you always have a good experience? No more than meeting people of “our own group.”   In every group, there are some people who may not be likable to you, but venturing out of our comfort zone almost always brings rewarding experiences.  Then, too, you will be able to appeal to others to drop their Islamophobia (or any other group animosity you may currently have) and truly live “in the land of the free and the home of the brave.”

Dr. Paul Mojzes is Professor Emeritus of religious studies at Rosemont College, Rosemont, Pennsylvania, where he used to be the Provost and Academic Dean. Currently, he is teaching a six-week course, “Religious Violence and Peacemaking,” at FAU LLS Jupiter on Thursdays at 2:30 p.m.  He also taught in the Holocaust and Genocide Masters program at Stockton College in New Jersey. He is a native of Yugoslavia who studied at Belgrade University Law School, received the A.B. degree from Florida Southern College and a Ph.D. degree from Boston University in Eastern European church history. He is the co-editor of the Journal of Ecumenical Studies, and founder and editor of Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe. Author of six and the editor of fourteen books, he has written over 100 articles and chapters in books. Among his recent books are “Balkan Genocides: Holocaust and Ethnic Cleansing in the Twentieth Century,” “Yugoslavian Inferno: Ethnoreligious Warfare in the Balkans,” “Religious Liberty in Eastern Europe and the USSR,” and edited “Religion and War in Bosnia” and co-edited “Interreligious Dialogue Toward Reconciliation in Macedonia and Bosnia.” He lectured in numerous countries and participated in a great variety of interreligious dialogues and Holocaust and genocide conferences.

As the eyes of the world transfix on the flight of Syrians trekking their way to safety in Europe, less attention has been paid to the Syrian refugees living in neighborly countries. Even less attention has been paid to host communities whose vulnerability has reached a breaking point as a result of the massive influx of refugees from Syria.

Since its beginning in 2011, the Syrian conflict has created a refugee crisis with no parallel in modern history. In fact, at the time of this writing, the conflict has thus far caused over 250,000 dead and over 11 million displaced. Over 4 million Syrians have been registered by the United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees (UNHCR) as refugees living in neighborly countries, excluding those who have entered these countries illegally. No other country in modern history has welcomed more refugees than Lebanon. In fact, Lebanon has the highest per capita number of Syrian refugees in the world. With an estimated population of about 4.3 million, Lebanon, according to UNHCR, has taken in approximately 1.2 million registered Syrian refugees.  Government officials and independent researchers put the overall number at 1.5 million.  This does not include approximately 450,000 Palestinian refugees living in refugee camps established over six decades ago and 50,000 Palestinian refugees from Syria. One in about three people in Lebanon is a refugee.

How could a country, let alone one scarred by a horrific civil war and tormented by chronic socio-economic and political problems, face up to this daunting challenge? How has the international community, together with the government of Lebanon and humanitarian aid organizations, dealt with this unparalleled refugee crisis?

My interest in the humanitarian aspect of the refugee crisis has only deepened as no sign for resolving the bloody Syrian conflict appears in sight. So much has changed since my first visit in summer 2012 to northern Lebanon where most Syrian refugees lived. Then, refugees and host communities seldom engaged in mutual recriminations and blame. Certainly, the massive influx of refugees into Lebanon by 2015 and the spillover effects of the Syrian conflict into Beirut have clearly affected both refugees and host communities alike. Ominously, during my recent field research trip to Lebanon in summer 2015, including to Syrian refugee camps, I sensed in my daily interactions with refugees and Lebanese the morbid feeling permeating their charged environment, which could potentially lead to emotionally-driven backlashes.

Since 2011, the international community, led by UN agencies and partner aid organizations, has developed, through successive regional responses plans addressing the refugee crisis on the regional and individual country levels. Unfortunately, a combination of factors, ranging from serious gaps in funding, massive refugee presence, security risks, parochial politics, crumbling social delivery services, to strict defensive governmental measures has put the whole humanitarian effort in danger of total collapse.

This has led to a dramatic shift in attitudes towards refugees on the popular and institutional levels, potentially leading to social conflict. Put simply, the refugee crisis has had a devastating effect on Lebanon, creating a new tragedy afflicting the vulnerable Lebanese and deepening the tragedy of Syrian and Palestinian refugees. Significantly, this double tragedy has the seeds of conflict not only for social stability but also for disruptive and deadly massive population movements. The Syrian refugee crisis has become a serious threat to regional and international peace and security, whose first victims are going to be a mass of vulnerable individuals across nationalities.

My lecture on the Syrian Refugee Crisis strives to trace the development of the refugee crisis, with a focus on Lebanon, and in the process to underscore in comprehensive details both the successes and failures of the efforts undertaken by the international community and the government of Lebanon to deal with the refugee crisis. The lecture tries to paint a clear picture of the potential double tragedy taking shape in Lebanon, whose humanitarian ramifications will inescapably be prohibitive for human conscience.          

Robert G. Rabil, Ph.D., has a master’s degree in government from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in Near Eastern and Judaic studies from Brandeis University. Currently, Dr. Rabil is teaching an eight week course titled “U.S. National Security” on Mondays from 9:30-11 a.m., and two one-time lectures, “The Crisis of Syria’s Refugees: The Future Saviors or the New Salafi-Taliban” on Saturday, Nov. 14 at 1 p.m. and “Iran, Hezbollah, the United States and Israel: The Coming Confrontation” on Saturday, Dec. 12 at 1 p.m. He served as Chief of Emergency of the Red Cross in Lebanon and was project manager of the U.S. State Departmentfunded Iraq Research and Documentation Project. He has written extensively on Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Israel, U.S.-Arab relations, reform in the Arab world, radical Islam and terrorism. He is a frequent speaker at major universities, including Harvard University. He delivers lectures and participates in seminars and forums sponsored by the U.S. government, including the U.S. Army and the National Intelligence Council. He is Professor of Political Science at FAU. Professor Rabil was recently conferred with an honorary Ph.D. in humanities from the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.

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Welcome Lifelong Learners!

We hope that you are enjoying your first week of classes. We are glad that you visited our blog and we hope that you will continue to come back and read the interesting posts we will have for you over the fall semester.

So, what is a blog?

A blog (also called a weblog or web log) is a website made up of entries (also called posts) listed in reverse date and time order with the most recent entry appearing first (similar in format to a daily journal). Blogs usually include features such as comments and links to increase user involvement. Blogs are a good example of social networking using the Internet. There are over 100 million blogs with more entering the blogosphere every day. Blogging has become an important part of families, friendships, politics, business and society. The Lifelong Learning Society in Jupiter began this blog to engage our faculty, staff and students in a conversation. We will have several faculty members including Dr. Rabil, Dr. Lawrence, Dr. Rakower and Professor Labovitz, to name a few, who will post to our blog over the next few weeks. We will also have several guest bloggers who will contribute posts as well. We encourage you to come back each Tuesday and participate in the dialogue.

We have had a busy summer here at LLS and we would like to let you know about the wonderful things occurring in our program. Here are the top three things you need to know about Lifelong Learning in Jupiter:

1. Last year we had more than 27, 000 Lifelong Learning registrations. Amazing! We now have more than 7,800 members and are the largest lifelong learning program in the United States.
2. We have more than 100 volunteers and we are always looking for more help. Throughout the year, we will advertise when we have openings for our greeter program or advisory committees. It is important that you receive our email newsletter each Saturday, Interactions, so that you get important announcements and information.
3. We are excited to bring to you outstanding university faculty and guest lecturers this semester who will teach a diverse array of subjects, such as “U.S. National Security”; “Personality: A Modern Perspective”; “Oscar Wilde”; “American Mosques” and much more. Did you know that some of our faculty members, who are also full time professors in the University, put in more than 14 hours a week into their presentations? In addition to our LLS faculty, we will also have several special guest speakers that we will host in the fall including Dr. Allida Black and Alan Gross.

We are excited for the upcoming year and we look forward to reading your comments.

Josette Valenza

Director