Nothing like waking up on Thanksgiving morning to read a story about a popular Catholic phone app hiring an extremely famous, rabid pro-abortion activist to read Advent reflections in order to help bring people to the faith.
Now, some may argue that asking famous actor Liam Neeson to read C.S. Lewis reflections for Advent can only help bring people to the faith, which is exactly what the Hallow CEO, Alex Jones, has done.
To understand why this is particularly maddening and needs to be responded to, it is important to understand who Neeson is and what he has done in the past.
Liam Neeson is a very well-known actor whose resume includes staring in prominent roles in the Star Wars trilogy, Batman, Rob Roy, Schindler’s List, and other well-known films. And yes, he also starred as the lead voice actor in the Chronicles of Narnia films, based on the writings of C.S. Lewis.
Under normal circumstances, it would seem to be a natural fit to partner with Neeson to read scripts for the Hallow app of C.S. Lewis Advent reflections. But this is not a normal case.
Sadly, Neeson also used his fame and fortune to advocate for legalization of abortion, particularly in Ireland. The legalization of abortion of in Ireland in 2018 contributed to the deaths of 6,666 (an ominous number indeed) unborn babies the first year after new legislation permitting abortions was enacted. It was because of his pro-abortion activities that Hallow has been criticized for entering into a partnership with Neeson.
In response, Hallow CEO Jones issued a public statement in defense of his decision to use Neeson to perform the voiceovers for his app.
I thought it would be an interesting exercise in learning about how the poison of Vatican II has infected the brains of otherwise smart people, who certainly may have good intentions, by analyzing this public statement. The text of the statement is in BLACK and my comments on in RED.
Jones’ Response to Advent Prayer Challenge
[Begin Jones:] We’ve received a lot of feedback over the last few days on the Advent challenge, with many folks really excited and many, understandably, upset, hurt, or confused. Many have asked questions about Hallow’s stance on issues of Church teaching.
[This is a true statement. Many are confused and hurt because one of the most, if not the most, popular Catholic prayer app entered into partnership with one of the most rabid, pro-abortion activists in recent years to produce Catholic content. But we also need to think about how these actions affect others who are not Catholic, the same people Jones presumably is trying to reach with the app.]
I’d want to start by saying that Hallow stands proudly and unequivocally in support of all Catholic Church teaching, especially the pro-life stance of the Church and the USCCB’s affirmation of abortion as the preeminent priority. It is a heartbreakingly important issue that we as an organization, and I personally, take very seriously. [Well, that’s good at least, let’s see how your actions support your words.] We have several explicitly pro-life prayers and meditations on the app guided by the foremost pro-life leaders in the Church. We would never allow any content on the app that goes against the pro-life teaching of the Church. We consistently send our team to the March for Life each year. We will do everything in our power as long as we are around to assist in the fight for life and to work to let God change hearts and minds.
[Here, Jones makes it clear that nothing in the substantive content of the Hallow app contradicts the Church’s teaching on the evil of abortion. We will be reminded of this several times, presumably to soften the blow of using a pro-abortionist to deliver content. But that is a red herring. No one is arguing the substantive content of the app promotes abortion.]
When we originally decided on the theme for this year’s Advent challenge, we prayed and reflected on who might be best to help bring C.S. Lewis’s words to life and help us all to grow closer to Christ, while still remaining, as we always do and will, fully in-line with Church teaching.
We were thrilled [wow, really excited about this] with the opportunity to partner with Liam as a voice actor to read the C.S. Lewis passages because of his powerful portrayal of Aslan (who is C.S. Lewis’s representation of Christ) in the C.S. Lewis films. We felt that pairing Liam alongside Jonathan Roumie and an incredible religious sister would allow us to hear Liam bring to life the writings in a new way, while also letting the religious sister and Jonathan lead us deeper into a Catholic reflection on the passages.
[Roumie, of course, plays Jesus Christ in the popular TV series The Chosen, which blasphemes the Blessed Mother and uses actors who public support LGBT politics. Interestingly, the producers of that show use similar arguments to defend using such actors in production that Jones uses here.]
They’ve all three done an incredible job recording the scripts. They are each deeply moving and we’re excited and humbled to be able to share them with the Hallow community. We believe that many will find them life-changingly powerful and that the challenge will help them grow deeper in their relationship with God.
[Neeson may very well be talented and good at what he does, but that’s not the point. Are we expected to believe that no one else could possibly have done what Neeson did? I would like to know who else may have been considered for this? There are plenty of good Catholics who I am sure could have pulled this off.]
All that being said, we do not stand behind or claim to endorse any of the personal views, past actions, or political opinions of any of the narrators on the app. We have many actors on the app with differing personal views on many topics, some who are practicing Catholics, but several of whom come from different faith backgrounds. Several have done things in the past or may hold personal views that we would disagree with. The one thing we do strongly stand behind is every word they read within the app itself.
[The irony here is stunning. The stated purpose of Hallow is to help people grow in their faith and to become Catholics or better Catholics. Now, we are told, the faith of those who Hallow partners with does not matter, or at least is irrelevant when it comes to producing content. This is standard non-sensical Vatican II logic (i.e. ecumenism in action) that is often used to justify scandalous behavior.]
We have two different philosophies for approaching partners. [Why? Why do you need to different standards?] One is for anyone on the app we have sharing their own reflections or sermons. This bar is very high – we look for the partner to have deep expertise in what they are speaking about and an extensive background in theology and adherence to the Church. We must ensure and trust that everything they say on the app is 100% orthodox and in-line with Church teaching. The other bar [much lower apparently] is for our actors or other partners. These partners are each reading from a script – usually Scripture passages or quotes from theological writings – written by our theology team. We partner with these actors, athletes, and creators, some of whom are not practicing Catholics, for their ability to bring the readings to life in a new way and invite a new audience to prayer. Our philosophy for which partners we work with in this second category has been primarily rooted, as everything we do at Hallow is, in discerning the extent to which it will help people grow closer to God while also seriously evaluating any risk that any content or partnership might lead people away from God.
[So, the real question here is does the sound of the man’s voice and ability to read a script (and popularity no doubt) outweigh any possible scandal or harm to the faith that this partnership may cause? Why would you even risk that if the content itself is so good?]
While the majority of the content on Hallow, by far, is led by incredible religious – nuns, priests, bishops [can we be sure of that now?] – who lead people into deep reflections and spiritual practices, our goal at Hallow has always been to try to reach out to folks who have fallen away and to invite them into a relationship with Christ. This often means partnering with non-traditional partners and people from different backgrounds. It’s one of the reasons why we’re so grateful to the partners who do choose to work with us. It takes courage, especially in today’s world, to decide to partner with an explicitly Catholic app and to use your talents and platform as a celebrity to invite people into prayer. [Neeson is courageous for being a pro-abortion activist while participating in a Catholic apostolate?!] It’s an honor to work with our partners – both those who take their Catholic faith seriously, and those who are in different places in their faith journey – to try to join in with God’s effort to reach out to the very hardest to reach, those in the darkest of places. [Seems to me the aborted unborn babies in Ireland were in a dark place too. What about them?]
As with every major decision at Hallow, we prayed deeply through this decision and consulted heavily with our advisors. It is a very difficult decision. Ultimately for us it comes down to our discernment in prayer. I do not always get clear answers in prayer, but in this particular case I do strongly believe this is what God is calling us to do. I understand if you disagree.
[Here, Jones admits he heard the concerns and the complaints and after further careful thought, decided to double-down. We are past the point of making an honest misjudgment now.]
On that note, I deeply appreciate all the feedback. We are very early in the process of learning how to build this content & community. Please know of our prayers for you. I humbly ask you for yours.
Alex, CEO & Co-Founder [End statement]
More Bad Fruit of Vatican II?
To some degree, I actually understand that it is impossible to police everything your partners in a business or apostolate do and say, and the primary concern is to produce a product that will bear good fruit. The problem, in this case, is that this particular partner (Neeson) is very well-known for promoting one of the worst evils afflicting the world today, participated as an accomplice in political activity that almost certainly led to the deaths of thousands of unborn children, and in no way shape or form shows any remorse for doing so.
No pun intended, but Jones’ reasoning for entering into such partnership rings hallow. Since Vatican II, it is common to see appeals to “dialogue with” and “work with” those who may openly reject the faith and, in this case, actively work against it. That may be acceptable in certain limited contexts, but not when it comes to teaching and promoting matters directly related to the faith for Catholics.
This is why traditionalists rightfully have a problem with participating in inter-faith worship services or inviting protestant ministers to give sermons at Mass (yes, this happens). Such interaction implies, teaches, or otherwise indicates to a reasonable person that the non-Catholic views those individuals hold must be compatible (to some degree) with the true faith because they are being asked to participate an activity directly related to the worship and understanding of God. This is lie. It’s also scandalous.
Put another way, it is naïve, and reckless, to believe that those in the modern world, who we truly are trying to convert to the faith, don’t look at entering into such illicit partnerships and tell themselves, “see, these Catholics tell everyone else what to do, but they don’t really believe in what they say!” One of the most common charges against Catholics is that they are nothing but hypocrites who condemn others for sinful acts but are themselves just as guilty.
Far from encouraging conversions and change of heart, it tells those most in need of conversion that Catholics are not serious and do not actually believe what they claim are life and soul saving beliefs.
It may be obvious to Jones that he is not trying to scandalize others, but he fails to consider how this partnership with a famous, pro-abortion activist to produce his content appears to those who he claims he is trying to bring into the faith.
Sadly, this is not an uncommon scenario in the post-Vatican II world when partnering and collaborating with unrepentant anti-Catholics, even those actively working to promote a satanic agenda, becomes the standard policy for advancing Catholicism. Perhaps Jones will still change his mind.