An atheist's unnerving descent into Hallow, the prayer app beloved by MAGA celebrities [View all]

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An atheist's unnerving descent into Hallow, the prayer app beloved by MAGA celebrities
Endorsed by Gwen Stefani and Russell Brand, Hallow's take on religion is the opiate of MAGA

By Amanda Marcotte
Senior Writer
Published April 18, 2025 6:00AM (EDT)


(Salon) When folks started seeing ads about a Christian prayer app featuring "Voice" judge and pop icon Gwen Stefani, the initial reaction was mild bemusement. "This year, I'm excited to share that I've partnered with this amazing prayer, meditation and music app called Hallow," she declared in a Christmas ad, asking viewers to "join me and millions of other Christians around the world."

"Watching your heroes get old is so depressing," said one Redditor, in a typical response. "I never thought I'd see trad-wife grifter Gwen Stefani but here we are I guess."

....(snip)....

In the advertising, the Hallow app seems bland enough. The founder, a rich management consultant unfortunately named Alex Jones, claims the goal is to "share the beauty, peace, and power of the Church’s spirituality with the world," all for $70 a year. But the whiff of MAGA isn't too hard to detect, for someone who knows what they're sniffing for. Early funding came largely from Donald Trump fanboys Peter Thiel and JD Vance, the latter now serving as Trump's vice president. Celebrity endorsements and collaborations include Trump's buddy Mark Wahlberg, anti-abortion actor Jonathan Roumie and Chris Pratt, whose efforts to hide his MAGA leanings always fall short. The app also recruited washed-up British comedian Russell Brand, but they are putting that endorsement deal on pause now that he's been legally charged with rape in his home country.

I'm an atheist who wasn't raised with much religion at all, so I've never observed Lent. But after seeing all this hullabaloo, I thought I'd take my first crack at the season of self-inflicted suffering — in the name of journalism, not Jesus. So I downloaded the Hallow app, after saying a fruitless prayer of hope that it does not steal all my private data. Like most Lent observers, my commitment to my oath to listen to this app faltered at times. Still, I muscled through many days of lessons on how to be a godly woman and treacly prayers read by Chris Pratt. What I discovered is that while religion may not be the opiate of the masses, as Karl Marx famously wrote, this app is a sedative to dull the consciences of MAGA.

....(snip)....

Most of this material doesn't seem political, but it does encourage a form of small-minded narcissism, with the relentless focus on the self. The Jesus of the Hallow app isn't much concerned about social justice or caring for the downtrodden, but about being your good buddy who strokes your hair after a bad day at work. The "demonic" forces the believer is called upon to resist aren't grave evils like human rights abuses. Satan seems more interested in frustrating you with traffic than, say, installing a fascist leader in the White House to destroy democracy. It doesn't seem political, but the project of lulling users into not caring about anything outside their immediate self-interest suits the goals of the MAGA movement. And it's probably more persuasive to ordinary people than overt right-wing propaganda. This isn't the Christianity of the liberal Christians I know, who volunteer, donate money, and care very much about electing better leaders. This is a "don't worry your pretty head about all that stuff" kind of Christianity. .................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2025/04/18/an-atheists-unnerving-descent-into-hallow-the-prayer-app-beloved-by-maga-celebrities/