SKILLET's JOHN COOPER: 'We're Not Even Worth Talking To For Some People' In The Music Industry

In a new interview with the Rebellious Remarks podcast, John Cooper of Christian rockers SKILLET, who regularly speaks about his faith in secular spaces and voices his opinions on hot-button social and political issues, said that he believes people from different ends of the political spectrum can come together for civil dialogue and debate amid increasing polarization. "I think in 2020, no one had the discussions," he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "It got worse in 2021. I think we're on the path to it getting better. Now, certainly in the music industry, you have your people. Like for instance, there's a very famous rock DJ that came to our show the other day. We're on tour with four other bands, SEETHER and two other bands, [including] Tim Montana. I was the last band of the night. As I was going in to play, I saw this DJ and I went to give this person a hug and I said, 'I didn't know you were here.' That night, this person posted on their social media page. I don't wanna say whether it's a guy or a girl, so nobody tries to figure out who I'm talking about. This person posted on their social media page pictures with them backstage with every single band except for us, refused to come say hello, refused to meet the band, refused to take a photo with me, even though we've met before. Obviously, I know why. It's because of 2020. It's because of my stances."

He continued: "We're not even worth talking to for some people. Those things are going away. Certainly there are places in the industry that have that. The industry is taking longer to be inclusive than the fans. Fans aren't like that. The bands, for the most part, aren't like that. Of course, you've got people like Sebastian Bach who are freaking out. Apparently, I've not heard this, but somebody told me, he said, 'If you're a Trump supporter, don't even come to my show.' I don't know if that's true or not. Pink telling anybody that's pro life, 'Eff you. I don't want you to listen to my music.' PARAMORE. You do have some bands like that. But in the rock world, everyone I personally know is very inclusive."

When the interviewer opined that those artists who are not inclusive are "going to be left behind soon," Cooper said: "I hope so. I think that that's something we could pray for, because there's no reason [to be like that]. What's ironic is that they are acting like the Christian fundamentalists from 30 years ago. They said, 'I refuse to talk to somebody who has a tattoo.' 'I refuse to talk to somebody who wears black makeup and has purple hair or listens to that loud rock and roll.' 'I refuse to talk to somebody who smokes a cigarette or drinks a beer.' That's the Christian fundamentalists. And now we have secular fundamentalists: 'I refuse to talk to somebody who could ever not get a vaccine from the government.' 'I refuse to talk to somebody who didn't post a black square.' They are being the secular Puritans that they would have hated 20 years ago. So we can only hope that goes away."

In a separate interview with Baptist News, Cooper said that he is "always an open book" when it comes to the way he speaks to the media. He said: "We are outspoken about Christ because we're outspoken that he is the only way to heaven, but not just about Christ. We're also outspoken about moral issues. I speak about the abortion stuff all the time. I speak about the transgender theory being taught in schools. I stand for biblical traditional sexuality. We say them proudly, we say them boldly, we say them with compassion toward people who don't agree with us, but we do speak the truth."

This past January, Cooper blasted Demi Lovato's pro-choice song "Swine", calling it "pure evil' and accusing Americans of "cheer[ing] on baby murder" by aborting "eight hundred thousand babies a year."

John has written in depth about his views in the two books he has released so far, "Awake & Alive to Truth", which came out in December 2020, and "Wimpy, Weak, And Woke", which became available in late 2023.

Cooper told Baptist Press about how his faith directs him to speak out on cultural issues: "If Jesus is the truth, then that means He has something to say about culture, politics, abortion and sexuality. The Bible has something to say about these things."

In various interviews over the years, John has said that he "always had faith in God" and that his mother was a "Jesus fanatic." He also claimed that he was willing to put his career on the line to take a stand for Christ.

In April 2021, Cooper told the "Undaunted.Life: A Man's Podcast" that it was perfectly fine for Christians to play rock music. "I would say that music is created not by the Devil; [it is] created by the Lord," he said. "All things were created by God. So instead of thinking that the Devil owns a genre of music, I would say capture that music and bring it back into subjection under the Lordship of Christ."

SKILLET's new album, "Revolution", will arrive on November 1 via the band's Hear It Loud imprint.