Transcript [00:00] This is the drive home. We're talking [00:01] with Troy Miller, president and CEO of [00:04] the NRB, the National Religious [00:06] Broadcasters. Troy, real quickly, how [00:08] how was the convention? I I I thought it [00:11] went really well. That was pretty [00:12] impressive there in Texas. It's amazing [00:14] to see where it is today as to where it [00:17] started right? [00:19] Yeah, it is. And it was a great [00:21] convention. Just uh uh outstanding. We [00:24] had a record attendance. We had nearly [00:26] 6,000 uh Christian communicators there. [00:30] Everybody from radio, television, radio [00:32] and television programmers, podcasters, [00:34] bloggers, uh authors, publishers, [00:37] filmmakers, you name it, it was there. [00:40] Um and and I I think personally I had a [00:43] lot of, you know, comments. It was one [00:45] of the best NRBs probably, you know, in [00:47] decades. And for some folks that have [00:49] been going to them for a long time said, [00:51] uh one of the best there. And look, it's [00:53] a great place to be. It's a great place [00:55] to find out what's going on in the whole [00:58] world of media and communications as it [01:00] as it relates to Christians. Um, and [01:03] it's also a great place for listeners to [01:05] be. You might run in the hallway to some [01:06] of your favorite programmers or favorite [01:08] pastors. [01:10] Yeah, I agree. In fact, it it is an [01:12] amazing thing. And and again, the work [01:14] that you do and like I said, I in fact, [01:16] I've left the Lutheran hour and now am [01:18] working not only here in DC uh on radio [01:21] but also the Lutheran Center for [01:22] Religious Liberty. And people say, "Why [01:24] would you ever leave the evangelism [01:25] ministry to do something like the [01:28] Lutheran Center for Religious Liberty?" [01:30] And the answer to that is, "I block now [01:32] so that you can speak. I I block the bad [01:36] legislation so that you can speak so [01:38] that people can hear and be saved." And [01:40] that's what you guys do an incredible [01:42] job of. So, let's talk. We've got a few [01:44] minutes left. Let's talk where we where [01:46] do you think we are with this [01:47] administration? I I would say we're at [01:49] least at a benign point, but we can't [01:51] rest on our laurels, right? Oh, no. [01:54] That's the biggest issue uh that we have [01:57] to uh you know, fight right now. This is [01:59] a great administration. Um they're doing [02:02] a number of things. You know, President [02:03] Trump spoke in 2024 at the NRB as a [02:06] candidate. He he made a number of [02:08] promises of things that he would look [02:10] into and uh he's already in his less his [02:14] first 100 days, he's kept pretty much [02:16] all those. He has a task force that's [02:18] looking into the weaponization of [02:20] governments, you know, strictly against [02:22] Christianity. Um, the FCC has been very [02:26] helpful to us. But look, if we sat back [02:28] and expect that government is going to, [02:31] you know, do this and fix all the [02:32] problems, uh, we're we're going to just [02:35] four years from now, we're going to end [02:36] up right where we uh were because [02:38] there's still a lot of opposition out [02:40] there. There's a lot of opposition in [02:42] within the government itself and within [02:44] these agencies. There's a the the deep [02:46] state is real. Uh we were we were just [02:49] dealing with some issues the other day [02:52] again of some regulatory items that were [02:54] coming down uh that we just had to [02:56] remind people that you you know these [02:58] are going to uh cause an undue burden to [03:01] a lot of people who operate [03:04] non-commercial stations. You know uh [03:07] that that there's a big thing in [03:08] government thinks that everybody's big [03:10] business commercial and we have to [03:11] remind them that's not everybody's [03:13] purposes out there. Some some people are [03:16] out there uh just to do good things with [03:19] media. [03:21] Well, yeah. And like you said, there are [03:23] there are two there's two views of the [03:25] foundations of our freedom. Uh there's [03:27] the the Judeo-Christian worldview [03:29] foundation which our founding fathers uh [03:32] talked about all the time. And there is [03:34] there's a new secular progressive notion [03:36] of these things. And um again the the [03:39] airwaves whoever controls the airwaves [03:41] and the educational processes is is [03:44] going to actually be the one that [03:45] controls the future. And all we want is [03:47] a fair shot, right? I mean again uh in [03:50] the in the u yeah in the public square [03:52] of ideas. We just think these ideas will [03:55] they have the power of God to do their [03:56] work but we want to be able to speak [03:58] them. And that is a real challenge, [03:59] isn't it? Yeah, that's exactly right. We [04:02] we're not asking them to, you know, take [04:04] anybody else off or li anything else. [04:06] We're just simply asking for a player [04:08] fair playing field because if we can [04:10] have that playing field, we know the [04:12] power of the word of God and and we [04:13] know, you know, scripture, as we said, [04:15] is sharper than that two-edged sword. [04:17] And and so that's the real issue. You [04:20] know, you may have saw this week there [04:21] were some hearings up on Capitol Hill um [04:24] on PBS and NPR. And that's an issue [04:27] we've been talking about for a long time [04:29] because uh these two organizations which [04:31] are are are very secular and pushing out [04:34] a secular worldview. um they have a [04:37] number of advantages over Christian [04:39] television and Christian radio um that [04:42] have been afforded to them in the laws [04:44] and in the regulations. Uh we're [04:46] fighting a piece right now where [04:47] Christian stations pay on an average 18% [04:51] higher royalty rates than the than their [04:54] than their exact counterparts in NPR. Um [04:57] so National Public Radio, their their [05:00] counterparts. So, so it's it's an issue [05:02] and and you have to remember, too, I [05:03] think you touched on this earlier. If if [05:06] we're not up there and if you're not up [05:08] there and we're not talking about our [05:10] rights, I can guarantee you that the [05:13] that that the that the other people, the [05:16] secular people are talking about those [05:19] those very opposite rights. Laws are not [05:22] neutral. Policies are not neutral. [05:25] Spending is not neutral. This idea that [05:27] anything is neutral is gone. There is no [05:29] such thing as neutrality in in [05:32] government. Somebody's worldview is [05:34] going to decide the policies and the [05:37] spending and the laws uh that are going [05:40] to put forth. And that's why it's so [05:42] important us for us to be active in the [05:45] public square and in the public sector [05:47] and to be active in the areas of who [05:50] governs us. Um you know, it's important [05:52] who governs us. [05:54] Well, I love what you said about NPR [05:56] because I think they had ideologically [05:58] they had basically 99% I think they were [06:00] Democrats for sure, but secular [06:02] Democrats on top of that and they [06:04] thought they said we're not biased. I [06:06] just I was kid in their mind if they are [06:09] 100% of the newsroom. Uh then they're [06:12] bipartisan in both sides of the aisle. [06:13] But if if that were to be conservatives, [06:16] they would be crying uh that somehow [06:18] that it was Christian nationalism or [06:20] something like that. And like you also [06:22] pointed out, I mean, $700 million of our [06:24] tax money went to Planned Parenthood, [06:25] which they can use to lobby against [06:27] pro-life. Same kinds of things. How come [06:29] these things are being funded where [06:31] we're paying the freight plus uh one? [06:34] And that is a real challenge. Uh final [06:36] thoughts about, you know, what people [06:38] how can people get to know more about [06:40] NPR and support the work you do? Yeah, [06:43] so NRB, you go to nrb.org. [06:47] Uh that's our main website and you can [06:49] just follow all the issues that we're [06:50] we're following there. Look, we we live [06:53] in a great time. You you can see when [06:55] our next convention is. We live in the [06:57] best time to be a Christian communicator [06:59] both at a professional level, a called [07:01] level, at an organization, and an [07:03] individual level. The average person [07:05] reaches over 400 people that can [07:07] influence on social media. So, it's a [07:09] great time to be a Christian [07:11] communicator. We just have to have the [07:14] nerve to stand up and make our voices [07:15] heard. [07:17] Well, thanks for your leadership. I I [07:19] know you stepped in and really have [07:20] brought a lot of strength and and [07:22] character and courage back to the NRB. I [07:24] I love being a part of it with you and [07:26] thanks for being on the radio program [07:27] today. God bless. Oh, thank thanks for [07:30] having me. God bless.
