Why We Do This
(February 2012) Did you hear the one about the Reverend, the Rabbi and the Imam? It’s not a joke, it’s a radio show and your Rabbi is the Rabbi. “Friends Talking Faith with The Three Wise Guys” will premiere on April 1st (no joke) at 6:00 PM on public radio station WMFE 90.7 Orlando. WMFE carries programming from NPR and other quality radio programming. We will go on air as “The Three Wise Guys” with our host Grace Fiandaca and have a one hour conversation from our three faith perspectives on contemporary issues like science, politics, the arts, culture and society, Through segments like “Good Religion/Bad Religion” we will highlight the best and worst that religion has to offer. We will present “Twisted Text” where we will discuss how some use our religious texts in ways they were never intended to be used and talk about how mainstream religion understands our sacred texts. We will have guests on the show representing a variety of perspectives on a variety of issues. If you would like to listen to the pilot we did on the place of religion in the 2012 presidential race go to www.thethreewiseguys.com
We do all of this because we believe that most people who affiliate with a religion or who consider themselves people of faith want to be engaged in well thought out conversation, are able to disagree in a reasonable manner, and are comfortable enough in their own faith and open enough in their religion, to listen to what others from a different religious community have to say. Unfortunately, some religious people and religious institutions give religion a bad name. We are going on the radio to show that you can feel srongly about your own faith and have a real conversation. We are takng our relationship to the airwaves to offer what we believe is the perspective of people of good faith. We hope to have people strengthen their connection to their own faith and build bridges between faiths at the same time
The three of us (The Reverend Bryan Fulwider of the First Congregational Church of Winter Park and Imam Muhammad Musri of the Islamic Society of Central Florida) have had a very close friendship and have been doing these type of dialogues for over a decade. Sometimes we agree, sometimes we disagree. We talk about differences and similarities. We bring a wealth of information and a sense of humor into the conversation. There is a chemistry between us that listeners have found enjoyable and educational.
I hope you will tune in on the first Sunday of every month beginning April 1st at 6:00 PM on 90.7 WMFE in Orlando and participate in the conversation through EMail, Twitter and Facebook. Please provide your feedback about the show and if you find value in it, please write to WMFE and let them know so maybe with your help we can go statewide!
See you on the radio
Rabbi Steven Engel