By Dawn’s Early Light: Major Documentary Exposes the Biden DOJ’s Weaponization Against Christians and ACLJ’s Fight To Defeat It

This week, I, along with several other ACLJ attorneys, had the privilege of attending the premiere of By Dawn’s Early Light at the Trump Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. This new documentary details the federal government’s own findings documenting anti-Christian bias and government weaponization against people of faith during the Biden Administration. And the ACLJ’s cases are at the center of it.

By Dawn’s Early Light is not just another political documentary. It is the first major documentary built on the findings of the federal Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias, established by President Trump through Executive Order 14202. Drawing from a sweeping 200-page federal report compiled from the findings of 17 government agencies, the film documents how the Biden Administration used the power of the federal government to target Christians, pro-life Americans, and people of faith across nearly every sphere of public life.

And the ACLJ was there fighting back.

One of the featured stories in the film centers on the ACLJ’s landmark federal lawsuit against the Smithsonian Institution after Catholic students attending the March for Life were told they could not enter the National Air and Space Museum while wearing “Rosary PRO-LIFE” hats. Security officers mocked the students, spewed profanity at minors, and informed them that the First Amendment “does not apply here.”

The ACLJ took the case to federal court.

The result was one of the largest publicly reported settlements against the federal government in a First Amendment case. The settlement also secured personal apologies to our clients, a director-led return tour of the museum, and institutional policy changes across the Smithsonian system.

Seeing that story brought to life on screen in a major national documentary was a powerful reminder of why the ACLJ’s work matters – and why these fights are far from over.

It was also an incredible honor that the DOJ included the ACLJ’s work and our clients’ story in this landmark federal report and subsequent documentary. For the federal government itself to recognize these abuses underscores both the gravity of what occurred and the importance of continuing the fight to protect the constitutional rights of people of faith.

What makes By Dawn’s Early Light so significant is that the findings are sweeping, sobering, and, for those of us who have been on the front lines of these cases, entirely unsurprising. It is a factual accounting – agency by agency, case by case, policy by policy – of how the Biden Administration weaponized the power of the federal government against people of faith. What the film does is translate those facts into something a written report alone cannot deliver: faces, voices, and the full human cost of a government turned against its own people of faith.

Every church should see this film. Every pro-life group should see this film. Every American who cares about constitutional freedoms should see this film – and they should watch it together.

That is why group showings matter so much. When churches, ministries, and local communities gather to watch these stories together, the conversations afterward become something more than entertainment. They become conviction. They become action.

Organizing a group showing is simple. Visit bydawnsearlylightfilm.com/group-showings-signup to register your event.

The Biden Administration bet on silence. It was wrong. Don’t let that bet pay off in your community.