Jim Daly, president of Focus on the Family, believes the release of “Truth Rising” could not have come at a more sobering moment: just days after the film debuted on YouTube, conservative activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated.
The timing, said Daly, who succeeded Focus on the Family founder James Dobson in 2005, was a painful but powerful confirmation of the documentary’s message.
“We’re highlighting people, both Christian and non-Christian, who have raised concerns about the way we’re treating one another,” Daly told The Christian Post. “With what happened to Charlie Kirk, the timing of ‘Truth Rising’ is right on the money. It wasn’t us. We’re not that smart. We just got nudged, I believe now, by the Holy Spirit, to say, OK, do this film. And we do it, and within days of releasing it … Charlie Kirk gets killed.”
The film, which Focus on the Family co-produced, tackles what Daly calls “a civilizational moment.” At its heart, Daly explained, is the question of whether biblical truth and the foundations of Western civilization can endure in a culture increasingly fractured by political tribalism, social hostility and violence.
“The key point that is made in the film that really resonated with me is Western civilization was built on one important premise: that they recognize that we’re made in the image of God, and every person deserves respect,” Daly said.
“And that was a breakthrough for humanity. [It] lifted women, lifted children. It wasn’t perfect. There were many things to work out, yes, slavery and many things, but the whole globe was saturated in slavery, and needed to work that out over time. But the point of the whole film is that the value of people, the value of the individual person, was lifted up in Western civilization.”
The film traces Western civilization’s roots to its recognition of human dignity as flowing from the biblical belief that people are made in the image of God. Theologian Os Guinness, who frames the film’s narrative, warns that turning away from that truth destabilizes everything.
“People don’t hold to truth because they fail to hold to the Truth — that is Jesus Christ, from whom all truth flows,” Guinness says in the film. Western civilization, he declares, “was founded atop Christian truth. If we kick that foundational building block aside, we cause the whole structure to collapse.”
Guinness’ reflections set the stage for John Stonestreet, president of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview, who interviews men and women who have resisted cultural pressures, often at great personal cost.
Among them are Jack Phillips, the Colorado baker who has faced years of litigation for refusing to create cakes that violate his convictions; Chloe Cole, who speaks with raw honesty about the damage of her adolescent gender transition; and Katy Faust, the children’s rights advocate who has endured sharp opposition for defending the needs of children over the desires of adults.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the Somali-born former Muslim and now outspoken Christian, recounts her escape from an arranged marriage and her evolution into a fearless defender of women’s rights.
“In each story, viewers are offered a portrait of what it looks like to stand on the truth in the face of fierce opposition,” Daly said.
For Daly, cultural decline is inseparable from the weakening of the family. “Some of this is the passing on of values to the next generation,” he said. “That began to become a little less cohesive in the ’60s … and ever since, the institution of marriage.”
He cited Focus on the Family’s earlier documentary “Irreplaceable,” which included the perspective of a former feminist who reflected on the unintended fallout of the sexual revolution.
“She said what we were hoping for was acceptance … and what ended up happening is we were abandoned,” Daly explained. “Men just realized we have access to sex without responsibility.”
That unraveling, he contended, has had devastating consequences for children. “In the 1960s, nine out of 10 children were being raised in their biological mom and dad’s home. Today, it’s 40 percent across the board,” Daly said. “That has catastrophic consequences to our culture, and I think we’re reaping them now.”
According to Daly, Kirk’s assassination on Sept. 10 has cast a long shadow over the release of “Truth Rising,” in which the central theme is the right to speak freely without fear of punishment or violence.
“Speech is not hate. Hate is hate,” Daly said. “Talking about things is not hate. But you’ve got to be able to hear people.”
He pointed to Kirk’s interactions with college students as an example of respectful engagement in a hostile climate.
“This 20-year-old woman stepped up to the microphone and just said, ‘I’ve had gender confusion since I was in third grade … what would you say to me?’ And Charlie Kirk was so gentle with her,” Daly recalled. “He said, ‘Before you put chemicals in your body, talk to somebody who can help on the mental side … try to find a way to love your body that God’s given you.’ And I went, ‘Wow, what a statement.’”
Though tempting, Christians must resist the temptation to respond in kind to violence or vitriol, Daly emphasized.
“I can only hope, and I pray as a Christian, that we don’t respond in a nasty way, and that brings our message down to the gutter,” he said. “We need to maintain the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, goodness, mercy. That’s who we are as Christians.”
Daly added that he was struck by the reaction of actress Jamie Lee Curtis, who openly wept over Kirk’s murder despite disagreeing with his politics. “That, to me, is a healthy human being,” Daly said. “That’s a person who can respond.”
“The irony is the people that want to harm people who are saying things that they disagree with. … They may have lit a brush fire that is going to, I think, for a while, change this country in very good ways.”
Beyond its cultural critique, Daly sees “Truth Rising” as an educational tool for Christians. “The first half of the film is really a college-level course in Western civilization,” he said. “I don’t think enough of us know how to defend the good things that the West has done to lift people out of poverty, to lift people physically, medically. You know the wonderful achievements that the West has gained.”
The second half emphasizes resilience and discipleship. “It doesn’t have to be harsh, my goodness,” Daly said. “Don’t get in the arena if you’re mean-spirited and trying to simply win. Please stay on the sidelines. But if you’re willing to learn and willing to empathize with people who are hurting, who does that sound like, by the way? Oh, Jesus.”
Cultural renewal, according to Daly, does not require a national platform. “The film ‘Truth Rising’ will encourage you to really just be a light in your community,” he said. “You don’t have to be a national figure. That’s not the point. The point is to do good in your community.”
He contended that his own experience as a foster parent for a decade reinforced that lesson. “There’s no greater area of chaos than foster care,” he said. “When you do those things, it helps you feel joy, because you’re giving back to others.”
Ultimately, Daly sees “Truth Rising” as both a warning and a call to courage, as well as a reminder that Christians are not promised safety but are commanded to love.
“I would much rather be standing as Charlie Kirk did last week,” he said. “He’s in this life one minute, and he’s before the Lord the next.”
“If you love people, believer, non-believer, and have good character … even in your death, you make a difference,” he said. “For the Christian who loves people, that’s the goal. And that’s what we’re hoping this film inspires.”
Watch “Truth Rising” below:
Leah M. Klett is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: leah.klett@christianpost.com
