Skillet's John Cooper says woke activists have 'big hearts' but are 'hurting themselves'

Skillet frontman John Cooper believes people labeled "woke" are often motivated by good intentions — but warned their approach can ultimately "hurt society."

"I think its 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."

"Theyre just going about it in a way that they dont know is wrong, and its actually hurting them," he continued. "Its hurting everybody. It hurts society."

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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.

"I know these people. Some of them work for me. Theyve worked for me for 15 years. I love them," he said. "And I say to them, I know youre trying to be a good person, but its going to hurt people."

The musician ultimately attributed his disagreement with those views to his Christian faith.

"What theyre doing is not true, and its 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."

Cooper, who has been performing with Skillet for roughly 30 years, recently told Fox News 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 dont want anybody to be canceled because Ive 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 thats 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 were still friends."

However, Cooper acknowledged that there have been rare occasions when he declined to tour with an artist because he believed the performers message crossed a line.

"I can only think of two things in my entire career Ive turned down," he said, recalling a band that planned to feature "Jesus on an upside-down cross" during its stage show.

"I dont think I want to