Monday’s SCOTUS leak about the possible overturning of Roe v. Wade is “such huge news,” says Skillet frontman John Cooper, that he had to post a brief “Daily Coop” message even though he’s on vacation. In the video, also available on YouTube, the Christian musician wonders why believers he categorizes as part of the “Christian left,” who “are never quiet online about anything,” have gone “remarkably silent” since Monday.
That evening, Politico published a leaked draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson, the closely watched Mississippi case that challenges both 1973’s landmark Roe decision and 1992’s Planned Parenthood v. Casey.
Cooper, an outspoken critic of “woke theology,” questions the motives of people on the so-called Christian left—and even names some names. He wonders why social-justice advocates can’t at least speak up to praise God for this “groundbreaking” good news. After all, he notes, it’s “something that Christians have been praying about literally for 50 years…begging and pleading God to intervene.”
John Cooper to the ‘Christian Left’: What Happened to ‘Silence Is Violence’?
In the 13-minute video, Cooper says people on the Christian left tend to be “the first ones to tweet you and say that you are not loving justice because you are not speaking out. Silence is violence. Say what we tell you to say, or you’re not being a good Christian.”
Cooper then reads a tweet from Christian author and podcaster Allie Beth Stuckey, calling it “exactly what I was thinking.” Stuckey wrote: “You should ask yourself why most of your favorite social justice Christian influencers, who all have Micah 6:8 in their bios, posted a black square & are constantly chastising the church to ‘do better,’ rarely have anything to say about abortion.”
Cooper says, “The Christian left is always saying they’re not political; they’re just apolitical. It’s people like me—I’m a Christian nationalist, apparently, because I talk about politics.” The left say they’re pro-life but then add “we think there’s lots of other ways we can help, too.” So it’s really “the perfect time” for the Christian left to speak out, Cooper says, because they can “have their cake and eat it too.” In other words, they can vote for politicians on the left and Roe may get overturned.
Naming Names: John Cooper Questions Specific Faith Leaders
Cooper asks, “My friends in the Christian market that are always yelling at me because apparently I don’t love justice…because I’m anti-CRT…how come you aren’t saying anything about the possibility of Roe v. Wade getting overturned?”
Then he calls out people by name, saying he hasn’t seen any comments yet from them on the topic. (If he’s wrong, or if they do post something, he says, “Let me know.”) First, Cooper points to Beth Moore, who “hasn’t said a peep on Twitter” about the SCOTUS leak and its implications—yet tweets a lot about masks and vaccines.
He wonders why Phil Vischer hasn’t addressed the topic on Twitter, although Vischer did retweet this from Kaitlyn Schiess: “Today would be a great day, regardless of what the Supreme Court does or how you feel about it, to think about what it could look like for you and your community, church, and family to support vulnerable children and parents.”
As for Vischer’s Holy Post podcast co-host Skye Jethani, Cooper gives him a “five out of 10” for this tweet: “Overturning Roe is good news. But it’s only 1 piece of what should be a holistic & compassionate response to abortion. I hope this decision from SCOTUS doesn’t make anyone ignore the less hyped, practical needs of women, families, & kids that have proven to reduce abortions.”
