Does God hate you? Some people say their faith tells them that that’s true if you don’t believe what they believe. On this episode of Friends Talking Faith with The Three Wise Guys we’ll discuss faith, and the understanding of God as either love or hate. The play is entitled “#GodHatesYou” and is the work of playwright Emily Dendinger. It is the story of a young woman, Laurel, who has always been the apple of the churches eye – she’s always the first person to volunteer to picket funerals of dead soldiers. Laurel knows just what to say to strike a nerve in the crowd and can debate the Bible with the best of them. We’ll talk to the playwright about this fascinating story and what exactly she’s trying to deliver to the audience through this play. Our conversation with playwright Emily Dendinger and her play “#GodHatesYou” as she prepares to bring the play to Central Florida – that’s coming up on this Friends Talking Faith.

It is a health crisis, and it has far-reaching implications for those who are affected. On this Friends Talking Faith with The Three Wise Guys we’ll discuss faith, the opioid crisis, and homelessness. In this, our third in an ongoing series over the coming months, we’ll talk about the opioid crisis and how homelessness figures in to what has been called “a national emergency.” We’ll talk with an attorney who is also deeply involved in helping to overcome homelessness in our community. She is director of the “HE GOT UP!” program – she’ll bring her unique perspective to this ongoing discussion. Our conversation with Ms. Beatrice Brown regarding homelessness and the opioid crisis – that’s coming up on this episode of Friends Talking Faith.

It is a story of exile and loss – of resilience and hope. On this Friends Talking Faith with The Three Wise Guys we will discuss faith and the importance of knowing and remembering our history. The book is entitled, My Dear Boy: A World War II Story of Escape, Exile, and Revelation. We will talk with the author, who in the year 2000 found a treasure trove of letters held together by rusted paperclips and stamped with censor marks. They had been sent from Czechoslovakia, Great Britain, China, and South and North America. She began to piece together the information that would tell the remarkable story of her father who came of age as a Jew in interwar Prague – his escape from a Nazi held army unit, his practice of medicine in China’s war-ravaged interior, and his eventual arrival in the United States. What can we learn from this remarkable story? Our conversation with Ms. Joanie Holzer Schirm and the extraordinary true story she unveils – that’s on this episode of Friends Talking Faith.

Has a family member or friend – or perhaps you yourself – been affected by the opioid crisis? On this Friends Talking Faith with The Three Wise Guys we’ll talk about faith, the opioid crisis, and the law. It has been identified as a national health crisis. While studies from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed a slight drop in deaths from prescription opioid drugs the statistics also have shown a marked increase in deaths from heroin overdoses – in fact, between 2010 and 2012 it doubled. We’re continuing our series on the opioid crisis. There is a cooperative effort, from many sectors, in our community to address this issue in a proactive and humane way. We’ll talk to the Chief Judge from The Ninth Judicial Circuit in Florida. How do faith and law find common ground regarding this crisis? Our conversation with Chief Judge Frederick Lauten and how the legal community is wrestling with the opioid crisis in Central Florida – that’s coming up on this episode of Friends Talking Faith.

It’s a grim fact: every day, more than 130 people in the United States die after overdosing on opioids. On this Friends Talking Faith with The Three Wise Guys we’ll discuss faith and the growing opioid epidemic in America – what does faith call us to do? It is a serious national crisis that affects public health and social and economic welfare. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that the total economic burden of prescription opioid misuse alone in the United States is $78.5 billion a year including the costs of healthcare, lost productivity, addiction treatment, and criminal justice involvement. Today we begin a multi-part series which will run over the next several weeks talking with community leaders in Central Florida about the plans to address this issue through a wide variety of community partners. On this episode we deal with how the faith community can help. Our conversation with the Rev. Dr. Joel Hunter about the opioid crisis in our community – on this Friends Talking Faith.

On Easter Sunday morning, just a little over a week ago, more than 300 people were killed and over 500 were injured when terrorist bombs tore through three congregations in Sri Lanka. On this Friends Talking Faith with The Three Wise Guys we will discuss faith and the rising tide of terrorist attacks on people of faith. The defense minister in Sri Lanka has stated that the Easter Sunday attacks at three churches and four hotels was the work of a little-known terrorist organization claiming to be Muslim and reportedly retaliating for the murderous attacks against Muslim worshipers in two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. We will talk about the sharp rise in deadly violence against faith communities in the past decade. According to Pew Research, in 2018 more than a quarter of the world’s countries experienced a high incidence of hostilities motivated by religious hatred, mob violence related to religion, terrorism, and harassment of women for violating religious codes. Violence against people of faith and what we can do about it – that’s coming up on this episode of Friends Talking Faith.

When you think about the universe, do you believe there is a God who created it? … and are there boundaries between God and humanity? On this Friends Talking Faith with The Three Wise Guys we’ll discuss faith, creation, and humanity. There’s a lot of talk about whether the universe is a creation by the divine or solely a scientific series of events. Is there a creator God? And if we believe that, what does it mean? Are there boundaries between God and humanity? And if so, what are they? Throughout their histories each of the three Abrahamic faith traditions have had long and ongoing conversations about these questions. Together we will dig into some of those on this program. God, the creation, and humanity – a conversation about boundaries and connections – that’s on this episode of Friends Talking Faith.

The biggest moral issues facing us as human beings in our time are… Well, how would you finish that sentence? On this Friends Talking Faith with The Three Wise Guys we’ll discuss faith and the biggest moral questions or issues facing humanity today. Ask anyone you meet what they think is the most pressing or serious moral issue of our day. There’s no doubt you’ll receive a wide variety of answers. We won’t even begin to list them here, but we will take time, each of us, to list what we consider to be the top three moral questions or issues facing the human race in our day and age. We’ll name them, discuss them, and talk about what we believe can and should be done as we tap the resources and wisdom of our Abrahamic faith traditions in regard to what are sure to be vexing questions. The most important moral questions in the world today – our conversation about that is coming up on this episode of Friends Talking Faith.

The miscarriage of justice regarding the Groveland Four is difficult to fathom. On this episode of Friends Talking Faith with The Three Wise Guys we will discuss faith and racist attitudes. It has been 70 years since the miscarriage of justice perpetrated against four young black men in 1949 in Groveland Florida. The sheriff was a murderous white supremacist, the woman who testified against the four young men perjured herself, and the attitudes and actions of dozens of Floridians at that time was shameful and horrific. We will talk about this issue from our various faith perspectives and discuss the continuing hard work of bringing justice to those who have been mistreated and harmed. Our conversation about the Groveland Four and the continuing work for justice that is ever before us – that’s on this Friends Talking Faith.

The Pulitzer Prize committee cited this book as “a richly detailed chronicle of racial injustice in the Florida town of Groveland in 1949.” On this episode of Friends Talking Faith with The Three Wise Guys we’ll discuss faith and racial justice. Devil in the Grove is a 2012 non-fiction book by American author Gilbert King. The book was awarded the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction. It is a history of the attorney Thurgood Marshall’s defense of four young black men in Lake County, Florida, who were wrongly accused in 1949 of raping a white woman. They were known as the Groveland Boys. Marshall led a team from the NAACP Legal Defense Fund – these four men were pardoned posthumously in 2019. Today, we will talk with the author about this tremendously important historical account of the depth of racism in 1949, and our growing, continuing struggle with racism. Our conversation with Mr. Gilbert King, author of “Devil in the Grove” – that’s coming up on this Friends Talking Faith.