{"id":29465,"date":"2023-10-26T15:15:22","date_gmt":"2023-10-26T19:15:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/?p=29465"},"modified":"2023-10-26T17:43:06","modified_gmt":"2023-10-26T21:43:06","slug":"skillets-john-cooper-blames-weak-christians-for-appearance-of-drag-queen-at-dove-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2023\/10\/skillets-john-cooper-blames-weak-christians-for-appearance-of-drag-queen-at-dove-awards.html","title":{"rendered":"Skillet\u2019s John Cooper Blames \u201cweak\u201d Christians For Appearance of Drag Queen at Dove Awards"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Tilly Antoine \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Christian rock icon and cultural commentator John Cooper has finally spoken out after controversial self-proclaimed Christian artist and drag queen Flamy Grant\u2019s appearance at the Dove Awards. Grant attended the awards with \u201cqueer Christian\u201d artist Semler and Caedmon\u2019s Call former lead singer Derek Webb. The controversy began when Webb <\/span>posted<\/span><\/a>\u00a0an image on X featuring himself, Flamy Grant, and Semler together with the caption \u201c54th annual Dove awards, here we come.\u201d The photo shows Webb wearing a dress, while Semler, a woman who is married to another woman, is dressed like a man, and Flamy Grant stands in the background. Grant made headlines recently for being the first drag queen to have a number-one Christian single. Webb and Grant collaborated on Webb\u2019s first new Christian album in 10 years, featuring a song called \u201cBoys will be Girls,\u201d which celebrates coming out and has a music video of Webb dressing in drag.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

None of those featured in the picture had been nominated, although Semler had lobbied for the Dove Awards to nominate her for \u201cBest New Artist\u201d last year. A few days after the awards show, Webb released a <\/span>video<\/span><\/a>\u00a0to explain his decision to wear a dress. \u201cAs a cis, straight, white man, I walk into a room like that (and any room) with an incredible amount of advantage and privilege. If I\u2019m attending as an ally of friends and colleagues, I should do everything possible to surrender that privilege at the door,\u201d he said. Grant, whose real name is Mattew Blake, also posted his reasons on X, writing, \u201cJust a few words about the spirit of this thing: the reason we\u2019re attending is to have a good time as out and proud queer Christian musicians. It\u2019s not a protest \u2014 at least no more of a protest than queer people existing in spaces that don\u2019t often welcome us is by default.\u201d Despite presenting himself as a queer Christian, Grant has detailed his deconstruction story on \u201c<\/span>The Heathen Podcast<\/span><\/a>,\u201d declaring, \u201cI\u2019m an apostate, a heretic, a heathen\u2014and I\u2019ve never felt more whole.\u201d He also stated he had found joy in his \u201cnew godless spirituality.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cooper, frontman for the popular Christian band Skillet, did not initially respond to the post but spoke to <\/span>Church Leaders<\/span><\/a>\u00a0after he was encouraged by others to address the situation. \u201cObviously, they\u2019re just trying to get attention, they\u2019re trying to disrupt, and they\u2019re going about it in a clever way,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd the truth is they are being the aggressors in this.\u201d He added that they would not have pulled a similar stunt at a Muslim event because \u201cThe laws of intersectionality would apply.\u201d He stated, however, that he believed they felt bold enough to do so because of \u201cweak\u201d Christians. \u201cThey know that Christians are so wimpy and weak\u2026they know that Christians are then going to somehow feel intimidated by them and not know how to act,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He was also critical of the Christian music industry for being too soft on Christian values. \u201cIf there was clarity in the Christian music industry about what it truly meant to be a follower of Jesus, I think that people wouldn\u2019t feel comfortable to come and express queer joy. I think they would be like, \u2018This isn\u2019t for us,\u2019\u201d he said. Earlier this year, Cooper discussed \u201cThe Rot in Christian Music\u201d on his podcast,\u00a0<\/span>Cooper Stuff<\/span><\/a>. Cooper began the podcast by highlighting the growing concerns\u00a0<\/span>Kevin McNeese<\/span><\/a>, founder of Christian music site NewReleaseToday, had about the increasing use of profanity in Christian music in 2017. By 2023, McNeese now found himself addressing Derek Webb\u2019s \u201cBoys Will Be Girls.\u201d He stated that Christians were afraid to speak out about profanity and indecency for fear of being labeled \u201cjudgmental\u201d or \u201cbigots.\u201d \u201cAnd who wants to be any of those?\u201d he asked. Yet, he encouraged Christians to speak out. \u201cWhat if we all said defiantly, \u2018Me. I don\u2019t care what you label me. Fine.\u2019 I\u2019d bet the conversation would change pretty rapidly instead of shutting up in fear that you\u2019ll be labeled something uncomfortable.\u201d Cooper affirmed these concerns and stated that weak pastors lead to weak Christian industries.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, with the controversy at the Dove Awards, Cooper wanted to make it clear that his criticism was because the three individuals claim to be Christians. \u201cWhen you\u2019re dealing with people who claim the name of Christ, who then refuse to stop these patterns of behavior that the Bible condemns, then we have a responsibility not to associate with these people. So I would just ignore them,\u201d he said about what he would have done had he been at the awards. Cooper was unable to attend this year, but stated his reasoning to ignore them fell under\u00a0<\/span>1 Corinthians 5<\/span><\/a>, which says in verses 11 and 12, \u201cBut now I have written unto you not to keep company if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolator, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such a one no not to eat. For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? Do not ye judge them that are within?\u201d He stated that people like Semler, Grant, and Webb \u201chate the truth\u201d and added, \u201cThey are moral relativists. They don\u2019t believe that there\u2019s such thing as absolute morality.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite having a lot to say, he said the decline in the Christian music industry had left him \u201cspeechless\u201d and that he \u201cnever thought he would see pastors or Christian artists say that being empathetic and having a winsome tone is more Christlike than speaking truth and calling out evil.\u201d He criticized how the industry had allowed \u201ca grown man [Derek Webb], who is apostate\u2014says he doesn\u2019t believe in God, [to spend] his time being an accuser of the brethren and someone who consciously hates Jesus\u2026[to] go on and say nonsense and have Christian people in the industry go, \u2018He does kind of have a point.\u2019\u201d Cooper has a new book coming out November 14 entitled\u00a0<\/span>Wimpy, Weak, and Woke<\/span><\/em><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/em>that further deals with the issue of weak Christians that he feels enable people like Webb, Grant, and Semler to make a mockery of Christianity. Speaking with Brian Kilmeade of\u00a0<\/span>Fox News\u00a0<\/span><\/em>to promote his new book, Cooper\u00a0<\/span>said<\/span><\/a>, \u201cThis book uncovers the philosophies behind utopian dreams that become dystopian nightmares and presents a positive vision for how we can thrive and flourish. The false promises of Man lead to destruction; God\u2019s ways lead to life\u2026\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Christian rock icon and cultural commentator John Cooper has finally spoken out after controversial self-proclaimed Christian artist and drag queen Flamy Grant\u2019s appearance at the Dove Awards. Grant attended the awards with \u201cqueer Christian\u201d artist Semler and Caedmon\u2019s Call former lead singer Derek Webb. The controversy began when Webb posted\u00a0an image on X featuring himself,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":664,"featured_media":29483,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-television"],"yoast_head":"\nSkillet\u2019s John Cooper Blames \u201cweak\u201d Christians For Appearance of Drag Queen at Dove Awards<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Jon Cooper discusses the appearance of drag queens at the Dove Awards.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2023\/10\/skillets-john-cooper-blames-weak-christians-for-appearance-of-drag-queen-at-dove-awards.html\" 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