Transcript [00:00] [Music] [00:01] Welcome back ladies and gentlemen. I'm [00:02] your host Michael Wilson and you're [00:04] listening to the Lonear Conservative [00:05] brought to you by Texellent AC service. [00:08] Very exciting guest right now. We have [00:10] Troy Miller on the line. He is the [00:12] president and CEO of the National uh [00:16] Religious Broadcasters Association and [00:18] I'm very excited to get into this new [00:20] breaking report. Welcome to the show, [00:21] Troy. Hey, thanks for having me today. [00:24] Great to be with you. Of course. We're [00:25] very excited because this is a [00:27] fascinating story. One that affirms my [00:28] own anecdotal evidence, but one that I [00:30] am very very pleasantly unsurprised by. [00:34] Um it's a matter of time watching the [00:36] demographic shift in this country uh [00:38] swing towards a more grounded [00:41] conservative worldview. So let's jump [00:42] into it. Can you start off by giving us [00:44] a little bit of background on your [00:45] association and of course what this [00:47] report is going over? [00:49] Yeah. So, the NRB has been around for 81 [00:51] years and our our primary role is to [00:53] advocate on behalf of Christian [00:55] communicators, broadcasters in the [00:57] public space. Uh, so we work hard to [01:00] make sure they can stay there and [01:01] there's no uh, you know, hindrances, [01:04] which has been really busy the last [01:05] several years, weaponization of [01:07] government. Um, but we do that and then [01:10] we help ministries do what they do with [01:12] excellence. So, that's the the two major [01:14] purposes of NRV. So we wanted to look [01:16] last fall we decided like how what kind [01:19] of impact is Christian ministry having [01:23] uh especially outside of the local [01:25] church. So we worked with Bara we did [01:27] this survey to say you know to figure [01:30] out what people's views how much they're [01:32] using uh Christian ministry and again [01:34] the caveat was not including uh any kind [01:38] of uh u media that comes from your local [01:40] church. [01:43] Yeah. And I I think that's important [01:45] because and don't I'm not devaluing the [01:47] church at all, but there is a reality [01:49] that we we have got to have people that [01:51] are in the culture uh in the secular [01:53] spaces that people are paying attention [01:55] to and and getting their information [01:57] from. And I'm glad that you guys [01:58] conducted this report because it's [02:00] important that people are aware of how [02:01] this country is shifting. I I often say [02:03] one of my main jobs as a radio host, [02:06] frankly speaking, is not just to make [02:08] change, but to expose what's going on so [02:11] that people can help make change. [02:12] because if we don't know what's going [02:13] on, we can't change anything. That's the [02:14] first step. And so, I'm I'm really proud [02:16] of you guys for running this survey and [02:18] for getting information. So, can you [02:20] tell us what you discovered? Yeah. So, [02:22] one of the big things right off the bat, [02:24] and I think it it really shows what you [02:25] talked about early, the shift here, is [02:27] that Christian media, 60% of Americans, [02:31] that's all Americans, not just [02:32] Christians evangelicals that's [02:34] Americans, use Christian media in some [02:37] form. That makes Christian media one of [02:38] the largest genres uh out there on [02:41] radio, television and social media. So [02:44] 60% of the country, 28% of Christian [02:47] media users are heavy users, which means [02:50] they interact with it at least once a [02:52] day. Uh so this was really good. And [02:55] another thing that I think you're [02:56] getting to uh that was really great was [02:59] the fact that the number of young adults [03:02] that interact. Gen Z leads the way with [03:05] 64% engaging in Christian social media [03:08] media accounts followed by millennials [03:10] at 58%. Um, so that's makes Christian [03:15] media, especially in the social [03:16] platforms, one of the most powerful [03:18] messages out there. Yeah. And I want to [03:20] point out on this note, Troy, I I say [03:22] this frequently. I loved when we changed [03:23] it to the Gulf of America and I said, [03:25] you know, a lot of people are calling it [03:26] a gimmick, all these things. I said, but [03:28] the way that we refer to things and [03:29] understand things will have an impact on [03:31] our psychological condition. it will [03:33] impact what we believe. Uh God rooted [03:36] us. This is why he says have joy always. [03:38] Uh the reality is because when you don't [03:40] that will impact the way you see the [03:41] world. A lot of the clinical depression [03:42] we're seeing nowadays is due to people [03:44] that have no hope and they focus on [03:46] that. They they they they think about it [03:48] all day every day. And so what we've [03:50] been told recently by the mainstream [03:51] media, by politicians, is oh yeah, well [03:55] Christianity is dying out with the [03:56] boomers. I mean they're they're the last [03:57] conservative generation. Once they're [03:59] gone, we win. And when they do that, the [04:02] implication isn't necessarily that it's [04:04] true. It's that people start to believe [04:05] it and they give up hope. And the [04:07] reality is, I've been saying for a long [04:08] time, I'm like, "No, I think generation [04:09] Z is actually going to be carrying the [04:11] torch of of Christianity in this [04:14] nation." And they're going to be raising [04:15] kids that are then going to take it even [04:17] further. And I refuse to believe that [04:20] Generation Z is some super liberal, [04:22] super progressive, super anti-Christian [04:24] generation. And your report is actually [04:26] confirming that for me. Yeah. And you [04:29] take this report with other reports [04:30] about young men, you know, heading back [04:32] to to the church at a at a huge rate, [04:35] turning conservative uh here. And you're [04:37] right. Look, look, one of the other [04:39] things in this report that was so uh um [04:42] encouraging, but to me, not that [04:44] alarming was the fact that 60% 66% of [04:48] Americans saw Christian media as [04:50] valuable and trustworthy. And 66% of [04:53] media users say they use it as an [04:56] alternative to mainstream media. And [04:58] you're right, mainstream media has [04:59] pushed this message, this this dystopian [05:02] kind of, you know, message. It's all [05:04] despair. It's all uh hate. It's all [05:08] messages that try to divide us rather [05:10] than unite us. Um and it's a message [05:12] that really takes our hope away. And and [05:15] what we're seeing is that that message [05:17] is being rejected at a very large scale. [05:20] Yeah. And I'm especially excited because [05:22] and I've said this before, but I think [05:24] for a long time a lot of the problem was [05:26] due to the to the fact that the only [05:28] media we had uh from Christianity that [05:30] was large scale was a lot of the times [05:31] coming from the church. And a lot of [05:33] young men seemed disenfranchised because [05:35] they just saw messages of of this and [05:37] that and they didn't see like a strong [05:39] worldview. Uh and a lot of young men [05:41] were like we want something that's [05:42] strong. We want something that that [05:44] tells us that we were made for more that [05:46] we can actually have impacts. And a lot [05:48] of Christian media nowadays is heading [05:50] back in that direction to say no, no, we [05:52] can make change. In fact, God calls us [05:53] to make change in the culture and and to [05:55] to produce better results, better [05:57] fruits, uh to change the way that we [05:59] view the world. And so I'm very excited. [06:02] Uh I I try every day on my show, I say, [06:04] look, all the stuff that I say cuz I'm [06:06] mine's primarily conservative, uh local [06:09] news, these sorts of politics. I say my [06:11] goal is that anything I'm ever asked on, [06:14] I can root it back to Christianity and [06:15] say this is why I believe what I [06:17] believe. Whether I'm talking about the [06:18] justice system, law enforcement, judges, [06:21] uh the mayor, any story that I'm going [06:23] over, the reason why I'm saying what I'm [06:25] saying is directly rooted in faith, in [06:27] my faith, in the word of God as the [06:29] ultimate arbiter of truth. And I think a [06:31] lot of young men are starting to realize [06:33] that this subjective methodology that [06:35] the secular world has proposed for [06:37] interpreting morals and ethics and [06:39] reality, they say, "Well, that literally [06:42] doesn't work. It can't work. [06:44] Definitionally, it it doesn't work." And [06:46] so they're like, "What is there that [06:47] promotes an objective basis for [06:49] everything that we believe?" And the [06:51] only answer that they're now turning to [06:52] is, "Oh, look at that. The word of God, [06:56] right? It's the only thing that's uh, [06:58] you know, filling that gap there." And [06:59] that's I think what why they're turning [07:01] away from from mainstream media and [07:03] legacy media to this media. Another [07:06] statistic in there, as you said, that [07:08] really put this hit this home again was [07:10] that the top users cited encouragement [07:14] as as one of the number one reasons why [07:17] they turn to Christian media and then [07:20] followed very closely by their desire to [07:22] love God uh with their whole heart, [07:25] mind, and to learn more about the Bible. [07:26] So, they're not just tuning into [07:28] Christian media in as a therapeutic kind [07:31] of, you know, alternative. They're [07:34] turning into Christian media, as you [07:35] said, for real answers, for objective [07:37] truth, for absolute truth in in a world [07:40] that just feeds them relative I'm sorry. [07:44] Uh but it's just it's it's relative uh [07:46] uh garbage. Yeah, it is. And and I say, [07:50] you know, there's been a a significant [07:52] portion, at least in my experience, in [07:54] the the right-wing circles of this rise [07:56] of what I call Christless conservativism [07:59] that once the conservative Republican [08:01] principles, but they ignore the [08:03] foundational basis for where there's [08:04] conservative Republican principles came [08:06] from. And I'm very ecstatic because [08:09] there could have been a major concern [08:11] that young people liked the [08:12] conservativism, but they're like, "Ah, [08:13] we don't really want the Jesus side of [08:14] it. We don't really want the the [08:15] religious stuff. We don't really want to [08:17] change our morals. We just want a return [08:19] to American values and and secularism. [08:22] And this this these numbers are are [08:25] disposing of the myth that that's what [08:26] young men want. It's it's not just that [08:28] they're consuming the media because it's [08:30] more conservative. They're consuming the [08:32] media because they actually love Christ. [08:33] And that I don't know of anything more [08:34] encouraging than that. Right. You you [08:36] nailed it there. That's right. They're [08:38] not they're not just out for a safe, [08:40] prosperous uh uh country. They're out [08:43] for American dream that that that the [08:45] that the Puritans had and the pilgrims [08:47] had to give them something deeper in [08:49] their lives, a meaning, a purpose. Uh, [08:51] and they're finding it in Christian [08:53] media. And I love that Christian media, [08:55] especially nowadays, has gotten so much [08:56] more brazen in their refusal to like [08:58] just adhere to the status quo. I say [09:00] frequently on my show, I'm like, you [09:01] guys have to remember context whenever [09:03] we talk about history. I'm like, for [09:05] years, they tried to convince us that [09:07] separation of church and state was a [09:08] pinnacle of the founders when it [09:10] absolutely wasn't. uh the founders never [09:13] envisioned a country I mean even John [09:14] Adams said that this constitution not [09:16] only was designed for but will only work [09:18] for a moral and religious group of [09:20] people that is not designed and it won't [09:22] work for any other and and young men [09:25] have heard that and they started [09:27] rewriting the narrative say look actual [09:29] historical accounts of the founders [09:30] which were like well over 90% Christian [09:33] uh you had state governments that were [09:36] inherently Christian [09:38] at every level um you had blasphemy laws [09:41] in in states uh after the constitution [09:44] was ratified. So they didn't view it as [09:46] unconstitutional to have laws against [09:47] blasphemy the God of the Bible. Even [09:48] Thomas Jefferson, one of the only deists [09:50] among the founders, had blasphemy laws [09:52] when he was governor in the state of [09:53] Virginia that he didn't veto. He [09:55] believed in them. They had Sabbath laws. [09:56] They had things that today they would [09:58] tell you, "No, that's so [09:59] anti-constitutional. That's not what the [10:00] founders wanted when they wrote it." And [10:01] it's like, actually, it is. The founders [10:03] were Christian and they believed in a [10:05] nation that while you weren't bound to [10:07] worship Christ by a single denomination, [10:09] they certainly believe that this country [10:10] was made, the American dream is [10:12] synonymous with Western Christianom and [10:15] you can't you you try to separate those [10:17] two things and that's why the young [10:19] people are waking up and saying, "Look, [10:20] that that not only doesn't work, we have [10:21] empirical evidence it didn't work. Once [10:23] you separate those, we don't have a [10:25] basis." Right? And they look around at [10:27] the culture today and you look around at [10:29] the the cities the governance of of [10:31] states that have tried to separate that [10:33] and and those cities those states are in [10:35] anarchy uh and they they realize that [10:38] without that moral foundation that [10:40] Christianity provides without that base [10:43] without that truth um then the rest the [10:46] rest of it as you said it's a house of [10:48] cards it just falls apart very quickly [10:50] and and again I I think that the thing [10:53] that was so encouraging uh about these [10:56] these young adults in this this study [10:58] was the fact that it's not just lip [11:01] service. Um they're really reaching out [11:03] and they're they're engaging. Um and so [11:07] this kind of really dispels all the [11:09] stereotypes that the mainstream media [11:11] would like to you know as you said [11:13] portray Christian media as the old days [11:14] of the you know pig hair evangelist. Um [11:18] these are very educated people as well. [11:21] they're they're intellectual and they're [11:23] they're understanding and and searching [11:26] for answers they're not getting anywhere [11:28] else. And it's especially exciting [11:30] because as I've mentioned like on my [11:31] show, like I said, I my show would not [11:34] generally be described as like a a [11:36] Christian theology show. And yet my show [11:39] is 99% rooted in historical [11:41] Christianity. like almost all that I'm [11:43] talking about when I talk about how I [11:44] view the justice system, a lot of the [11:45] problems we're having with crime. I'm [11:47] down here, of course, in Harris County [11:48] where we have a lot of activist judges [11:50] uh that will give bond to criminals. We [11:52] have hundreds of homicides a year that [11:53] are committed by criminals out on bond. [11:55] And I say a lot of these problems are [11:57] largely due to because we're not [11:58] following the foundation of justice that [12:00] was established by God. God is the [12:02] ultimate justice giver. He's the [12:03] ultimate judge. And if we're not [12:05] formulating our justice response in a in [12:07] a Christian foundation, well, then of [12:09] course it's going to fail. Uh, and I [12:11] actually we have a Christian Chamber of [12:13] Commerce, I think one of the only in the [12:14] state down here. And I was so encouraged [12:17] because the guy that runs it, he said, [12:18] "Look, you know why we're still a [12:20] conservative chamber of commerce?" Cuz [12:21] you had a conservative chamber of [12:22] commerce uh east of us that's no longer [12:24] conservative because they said, "No, we [12:26] don't want to play the religious game. [12:28] We're just conservative." And then [12:29] within 5 or 10 years, they were [12:31] established fully liberal. He's like, [12:33] "That's where it goes if you're not [12:35] rooted in the objective truth that [12:36] produces conservatism. Conservativism is [12:39] simply a symptom of Christianity, [12:42] right? It's an outcome of the foundation [12:44] of of Christianity, conservativism. And [12:47] so is freedom. Our freedom is without [12:50] Christianity. We have no freedom here. [12:53] And so just again, I want to go back to [12:55] this one thing because twothirds of the [12:57] general population, that's a general [12:59] population, viewed Christian media as [13:02] valuable and trustworthy. right now the [13:03] mainstream media uh their number sets [13:06] down in the in the maybe maybe upper [13:08] teens uh at the best. They're one of the [13:11] uh you know most untrusted sources out [13:13] there. Um and so this is very [13:15] encouraging for programs like yours and [13:18] other Christian programs. You're being [13:20] effective. You're reaching people and [13:22] you're making an impact in their lives. [13:25] And it's it's so cool that you mentioned [13:27] freedom because I always say when the [13:29] founders wrote all this stuff, they said [13:30] god-given rights. If you remove the God [13:32] part of that and it just says given [13:34] rights, then who gives it? Well, the [13:36] government does. Then they can give and [13:37] they can take away. And so when you [13:39] don't root it in that, you see ultimate [13:41] failure because that's where it will [13:43] always go. Well, Troy, I want to thank [13:44] you so much for coming on to the show. [13:45] Uh it's been very encouraging to hear [13:47] the empirical side of the evidence. I'm [13:49] so glad you guys conducted the survey [13:50] and got it done. Can you tell people how [13:52] they can stay involved with your [13:53] organization? It's very important the [13:55] work that you guys are doing at every [13:56] single facet. Tell people how they can [13:57] get involved and keep up to date with [13:59] what you guys are doing. [14:00] Yeah. So, you can go to nrb.org [14:04] and uh on there you can track all that [14:06] we're doing, all the legislative and and [14:08] legal work that we're doing. Uh you can [14:10] also find out about our annual [14:12] conference which will be in nove which [14:13] will be sorry February of 2026 in [14:16] Nashville, Tennessee. Awesome. Well, [14:18] Troy, again, one more time, I want to [14:19] thank you so much for coming on for [14:20] being so encouraging and uh Lord [14:22] willing, we'll talk to you again soon. [14:25] Great. Thanks for having me. Awesome. [14:26] We'll talk to you again.
