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Skillet frontman John Cooper believes people labeled “woke” are often motivated by good intentions — but warned their approach can ultimately “hurt society.”
“I think it’s really worth mentioning that people that we would call woke, the things that we find really problematic, I think it’s worth mentioning that most of those people really have big hearts,” Cooper said during a recent appearance on the “Unashamed with the Robertson Family” podcast. “They want justice. They want the world to be better.”
“They’re just going about it in a way that they don’t know is wrong, and it’s actually hurting them,” he continued. “It’s hurting everybody. It hurts society.”
SKILLET’S JOHN COOPER SAYS CHRISTIANS WHO CALL ROCK MUSIC ‘DEMONIC’ ARE ‘GETTING THE GOSPEL WRONG’
Skillet frontman John Cooper spoke out about people he considers “woke.” (Getty Images)
He said that inner cities in particular are “getting so much worse,” saying, “I look at the things that the politicians that say they want to help the poor, they want to help the marginalized, they want to help people of color, whatever it may be, and all they do is keep hurting them more and more and more.”
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Cooper said he believes that “the woke probably have good intentions,” and pointed to people he knows personally as proof.
John Cooper is seen performing with Skillet on Sept. 6, 2026 in Dyersville, Iowa. (Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images)
“I know these people. Some of them work for me. They’ve worked for me for 15 years. I love them,” he said. “And I say to them, ‘I know you’re trying to be a good person, but it’s going to hurt people.’”
The musician ultimately attributed his disagreement with those views to his Christian faith.
“What they’re doing is not true, and it’s not based on the Bible,” Cooper said. “It goes against the way God tells us how to live. They end up hurting themselves, and now we’ve got a culture so nihilistic that doesn’t know that they matter. They’re looking to matter by doing social justice, but they keep hurting themselves more.”
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John Cooper says woke culture is hurting true believers. (Getty Images)
Cooper, who has been performing with Skillet for roughly 30 years, recently told Digital that his Christian beliefs have influenced some of his professional decisions. However, he remains a steadfast supporter of artistic freedom.
“I am a huge believer in freedom of speech,” Cooper said. “I hate cancel culture. I don’t want anybody to be canceled because I’ve never said, ‘So-and-so rock artist sings a song against Jesus and I want him pulled down from Spotify.’”
“I would never say that, because that’s not what art is,” he added.
Cooper said he has shared the stage with artists who are atheists and even those who openly oppose Christianity.
“Some of them, I would say, are probably personally not only atheist, they probably personally are a little anti-Christ,” he said. “And they would know it. They would say, ‘The truth is, John, I just hate the concept of Jesus.’ And we’re still friends.”
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However, Cooper acknowledged that there have been rare occasions when he declined to tour with an artist because he believed the performer’s message crossed a line.
Christian rocker John Cooper believes that people who think hard rock is “demonic” are getting the gospel wrong. (Redferns)
“I can only think of two things in my entire career I’ve turned down,” he said, recalling a band that planned to feature “Jesus on an upside-down cross” during its stage show.
“I don’t think I want to tour with that act,” Cooper said. “And it’s not because I hate them. I don’t hate them at all. I’m not calling for them to be pulled down from Spotify. I just go, ‘Hey, this is just something that you’ve gone a little too far to desecrate something that I think is sacred.’”
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Cooper said he believes people with opposing viewpoints should be free to express themselves.
“I would like to share my faith in Jesus,” he said. “And because of that, I don’t mind if somebody else sings a song that’s against what I believe. Freedom of speech. Let’s go put all the ideas out there in the free market and let’s see which one wins.”
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Digital’s Larry Fink contributed to this post.
