The Cory Truax Show

On This Episode:

REACTION TO DAVE CHAPPELLE'S COMEDY SPECIAL

Chappelle is taking fire from alphabet soup lobby, and he's taking it well. He also spoke important truth in that special about the actual dominant force in the culture. You can often tell who is in charge of any given organization/culture by determining who you are NOT allowed to joke about. Chappelle's special is revealing that truth.

YOUNG PEOPLE AND "MAIN CHARACTER ENERGY."

I found out there's a phenomenon on social media among the younger set, urging them to be the main character of their lives. The Christian message has a true, liberating, and invigoration response to that message. We're all invited into a much bigger story than our own -- and it's an epic one at that.

REGULATING SOCIAL MEDIA

I tend to be against any regulation, but these 25 years of social media are giving us information now that might require action. I'll work through the options.

AN ECONOMICS DEBATE WITH DEEPER MEANING

I recently listened to two left-of-center folks debate these giant spending bills Congress is considering. One gentleman aptly explained the consequences of spending and taxes on inflation, wage depression, and employment. The other debater basically said, "but sad things are sad, so I want to spend money, so maybe I won't be sad anymore."

It's a good lesson in HOW to think instead of WHAT to think.

On This Episode:

A LISTENER EMAIL ON WHY I'M WRONG ABOUT PERSONAL FINANCES (0:00-13:55)

I recently argued that younger folks today struggle financially, IN PART, because of widespread inability to deny themselves the things they want and by thoughtless spending. A listener wrote in and made good arguments about inflation and cost-of-living being the primary driver of financial struggle. Let's find the balance between those two.

SHOULD WE BE SPENDING $5 TRILLION DOLLARS WE DON'T HAVE? (13:55-36:18)

Along the way in this discussion, we'll look at:

-A Biblical worldview on government spending

-How to measure the morality of an economic system

-That the moderate bi-partisan position is AGAINST a gigantic welfare state spending bill

-I'll provide specifics about what's in the $3.5 trillion Welfare State Bill

SEVERAL ITEMS (36:18-End)

-If the most recent former president runs, I'm asking folks on the right to ask themselves, "why would you do it again? What did you get from that administration that you couldn't get from any generic Republican?

-Governor Kathy Hochul gets super weird

-The Left hosted an abortion hearing. It was demonic and ugly.

On this Episode:

NO SOLUTIONS -- JUST TRADE-OFFS

An important lesson to remember in life is that everything is a compromise between competing interests. If you make perfection the demand, you'll just be miserable. This lesson is important in policy-making too.

DEEP LESSONS FROM A FOOTBALL GAME. NO, I'M SERIOUS

A major football program is disappointed, but there are important lessons about entitlement, cherishing great moments, and gratefulness in the dissapointment.

POLITICAL QUIZ

You should take this quiz. I take it live on air.

On This Episode:

THE V@C!NE MANDATE IS OBVIOUSLY ILLEGAL (0:00-14:50)

No president has this power, and the use of this power should trouble literally everyone. The order's parameters are arbitrary and capricious. The enforcement mechanism ranges from unclear to impossible. The court decisions being used as justification regarded how citizens interact with their government and were legislative actions in states -- not dictates from one person in the federal government. The mandate is illegal, and the Courts must handle it.

WE NEED TO BE DWELLING ON THE PROVERBS (14:50-32:24)

We live in a dumb time. It seems like we're getting dimmer. The Proverbs, though, have responses for most of our cultural ills. In a time of isolation, the Proverbs offer wisdom on being a good friend. In a time of idleness, the Proverbs urge us on to hard work. In a moment of instant-everything, the Proverbs provide the wisdom to defer gratification. In an emotionally fraught world, the Proverbs remind us that what we dwell on is what we are and that we have the mandate to direct our thoughts.

IS EMPATHY A SIN? (32:34-End)

I was blown away recently that this question is being sincerely debated. As I heard the debate, though I found some nuances we need to talk out.

On this episode:

I have some opening thoughts on the authority of Scripture in life.

After that, though, I want to talk about the Texas abortion law, and then more broadly, revisit the abortion debate.

On This Episode:

IS THE HUMAN MIND DIMINISHING? (0:00-14:50)

When you think about the minds of antiquity -- Montesquieu, Jefferson, De Tocqueville, etc -- prima facia, it appears their level of cognition, computation, memorization, pattern recognition, and ideation are superior to today's best thinkers. When you compare the curricula of old to today's, again, it can seem we're diminishing intellectually. Is that true, though? If so, what's to blame. I have thought from something called the noetic effect of The Fall.

Beyond that, I'll illustrate just how bad our cognitive dissonance and intellectual hypocrisy has gotten with our broken brains.

LISTENER QUESTION: DO I FIND ANY MORAL REASONING AROUND BEING V-WORDED FOR C-V--D? (14:50-27:04)

The kind and thoughtful listener submitted a question about moral culpability for a treatment or preventative measure that was developed using any line of aborted fetal cells. I try to work through this carefully, Biblically, and thoughtfully.

RELIGION IS RUNNING THE ENTIRE CULTURE AND GOVERNMENT (27:04-33:37)

We tend to be a "separation of church and state" culture. That idea, though, emanates from the concept of the Church as an institution not being intertwined with government. Our government operates on religion -- secularism, environmentalism, humanism, empiricism, etcetera.

Some religion will inform our laws. My claim: The Bible's values will be the best for the most humans, so we should probably pursue Biblical policies.

A COUPLE ITEMS TO FINISH (33:37-End)

I have some thoughts on what SHOULD have happened in Afghanistan. Also, Bill Maher is the exact voice the Left needs right now. The problem is that they're not listening to him. Finally, let me tell you why gratefulness leads to happiness and entitlement leads to misery.

On This Episode:

I HAVE AUDIO OF A WOMAN INDICATIVE OF PEOPLE HOW HAVE A CoV2 PHOBIA

You really need to hear this audio from This American Life. This young lady has passed caution onto outright hysterical phobia -- but she feels righteous and good in this fear. We can laugh at or resent these people, sure. But there's also a better response.

"ESSENTIAL WORKERS" AND HOW WE THINK ABOUT WORK

I have some audio from a journalist questioning by people we called "essential" during the pandemic are also often low paid. The journalist makes the mistake of thinking an ESSENTIAL service is one where the workforce is limited. Labor is a market. If there is a lot of supply, wages will stay low. The more unique a skill set becomes, the supply for that labor is diminished (thus driving up wages). The quicker we realize this truth about wages, the better off we'll be.

I have some additional thoughts on how to think about work Biblically here as well.

LISTENER QUESTION: WHY WOULD GOD ALLOW THE CONCEPTION OF CHILDREN WHO WILL BE ABORTED?

This question could be asked a myriad of ways: why deadly floods in Tennessee or chaos and killings in Afghanistan. Theologians and philosophers have wrestled with the "problem of evil" (theodicy) for millennia. I'll give my abbreviated response to it.

V-WORD MANDATES AND THE CHRISTIAN (I say "V-word" so our Tech Overlords don't throttle me)

Government mandates? I'm all the way out.

Private Service Provider Mandates? Sure. That's freedom of association.

Employer-to-employee mandates? That one is hard and requires wrestling through out.

I also have a quick word here on how v-word absolutists on both sides are just behaving irrationally.

On This Episode:

THE REAL PROBLEM IN AFGHANISTAN

It seems almost unanimous that the US needed to leave Afghanistan. It's also seemingly unanimous that no one liked how the withdraw went. We Ie examine the problem, though, I lay it at the feet of the Islam. There is a reason it was Christianized cultures that birthed the Enlightenment and Industrial Revolutions. Islam, largely, is a system of rot, and it leads to places like Afghanistan.

CHRISTIANS AND GOVERNMENT REBELLION

The Bible has some clarity from the Christian citizen in every country: endeavor to live quiet and peaceful lives, worships regularly, raising families, building businesses, obeying the laws, and praying and working for the well-being of the place where we live.

There is another doctrine in this category, though, called the Doctrine of Lesser Magistrates. I only very recently learned about it, and I'll share what I've learned thus far.

SEVERAL OTHER ITEMS:

-Audio from a public healthy officlal who has no regard for human freedom.

-The English Standard Translation gets criticism for changing the word "slave." It's dumb criticism.

-Some thoughts from a recent comedy show I attended.

On This Episode:

TWO SOCIAL QUESTIONS: HOW TO EDUCATE OUR KIDS? SHOULD AT LEAST ONE PARENT STAY HOME WITH THE KIDS? (0:00-17:22)

Don't blame me. A listener asked me to weigh in on the questions of education and household organization. Many conservatives and Christians are advocating leaving the public school system altogether. My take is mostly that not all schools are the same, so each individual family needs to make their own individual decision -- having the child's spiritual and ethical formation as the top priority.

I also use this time to clarify what the "traditional" family structure looked like at home. It's probably not what you think.

ROBIN DEANGELGO PERFECTLY ILLUSTRATES THAT WOKENESS IS RELIGION (17:22-25:00ish)

The "White Privelege" author recently talked about how she realized she was white. It sounded like someone "sharing their testimony." You have to hear this.

IS "HANDING OUT TRACTS" STILL AN EFFECTIVE EVANGELISM METHOD (25ish-33:22)

I deeply admire the Christian who specifically spends time on evangelism. I just want to revisit our methods briefly.

A TERRIBLE ARGUMENT ON TWO OPPOSING SIDES (32:22-39:10)

Pro-shutdown and pro-masking-children people tend to tell you stories and anecdotes about people who get sick or die to make their point. You know who else does that? Anti-Vaccine people. Both are terrible arguments. Data suggests both of their positions are dubious, and if we'll be data-driven instead of emotion-driven, we'll have a better country.