Issues, Etc. The Origins of the Sexual Revolution – Dr. Carl Trueman, 12/4/25 (3382, Encore)
Dec 4, 2025
Dr. Carl Trueman, a Professor at Grove City College and author, dives into the complexities of the sexual revolution. He argues that its roots extend from a deeper inward shift in self-identity. Trueman highlights key philosophical influences, including Rousseau and Nietzsche, and discusses how Freud’s ideas redefined inner life as sexual. He connects modern cultural phenomena like campus protests and the rise of transgender identities to this psychologized selfhood. Trueman emphasizes the need for churches to cultivate strong communities as a counter to expressive individualism.
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Jenner Interview Illustrates Inner Identity
- Todd opens with Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner's Diane Sawyer interview where Jenner says he 'lived a lie' and identifies as female.
- The clip illustrates contemporary instinct to prioritize inner identity over bodily facts.
When Sex Becomes Political
- Once identity centers on sex, sexual norms become political because politics arranges how selves live together.
- Reich and the new left linked sexual liberation to political freedom by framing repression as political oppression.
Reich's Eccentric Fallout
- Carl recounts Wilhelm Reich's eccentric decline, prison fraud charge, and a 'sex machine' scandal.
- Reich's extreme ideas illustrate the fringe paths sexual theory took after Freud.
