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My Religion and My Banned Books

2022-05-03 · letter vlog · John · 3:56 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Books & writing (also: Philosophy & meaning) · mode: Personal essay · tags: heavy topic

With his books being removed from US schools and libraries, John draws on his time as a hospital chaplain and his Christian faith to argue that his books, like a chaplain, 'stand there' and that restricting stories restricts empathy.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Books removed for 'obscenity'; the obscenity John saw as a children's-hospital chaplain; why his chaplaincy surprises people

  • ★★★ John says his books, especially Looking for Alaska and Turtles All the Way Down, have lately been removed from US libraries and schools for purported obscenity. — 00:00:00 · Looking for Alaska (novel), Turtles All the Way Down, United States
  • ★★★ Half his life ago John worked as a student chaplain at a children's hospital and saw what he considers obscene: children dying, parents terrified for their kids and about paying medical bills. — 00:00:00
  • ★★ John says his chaplaincy surprises many evangelical Christians, who don't understand why a fellow Christian would write books for young people that include premarital sex and alcohol abuse. — 00:00:29

00:00:58 — Religion as an approach to how to live; a chaplain's job is to listen, not to fix

  • ★ It also surprises non-religious people, who wonder why a thoughtful person would believe bad wine turns into God's blood every Sunday. (playful) — 00:00:58
  • ★ John says he doesn't generally talk about his personal beliefs online, because this is the internet and he doesn't want to. — 00:00:58
  • ★★★ John says he continues to find religion a helpful approach to the ancient conversation about how to live as a person among other people. — 00:00:58
  • ★★ One of the first things John learned as a chaplain is that it was not about him or his beliefs. — 00:00:58
  • ★★★ Whether a grieving person said their loved one had no afterlife or was in heaven, it was not John's job to question it; his job was to really listen and acknowledge pain he could not fix. — 00:01:27
  • ★★ John recalls his chaplaincy supervisor often telling him: don't just do something, stand there. — 00:01:27

00:01:56 — Books that 'stand there'; stories show full humanity, so power structures fear them

  • ★★★ John says he has tried to do the same with his work: to write books that don't just do something but stand there. — 00:01:56

    “I have tried to write books that don't just do something. They stand there.”

  • ★★★ John believes that by standing there without judgment, stories proclaim their characters' full humanity and help us see the humanity within ourselves. — 00:01:56

  • ★★★ John says stories also invite us into other lives and help us understand the richness and complexity of people who aren't like us. — 00:01:56
  • ★★★ John says he kind of understands book banning: books threaten power structures that want marginalized people, by race, sexuality, gender identity or mental illness, seen as less than fully human. — 00:02:27 · mental disorder
  • ★★★ John argues that if great books have an agenda, it is not a liberal, gay or Christian agenda but a humanizing one: a mission to recognize the human value in ourselves and others. — 00:02:27

00:02:57 — The Gospel of Matthew's call to treat all others as we want to be treated; restricting stories restricts empathy; sign-off

  • ★★ John says that in his faith tradition the Gospel of Matthew calls them to treat all others, not just friends, neighbors or the like-minded, as they would want to be treated. — 00:02:57
  • ★★★ To John, that call does not mean deciding on someone else's behalf what books they may read, nor hiding the realities of the human condition from high school students. — 00:02:57
  • ★★★ To John it means making space so that all others are treated by individuals and society with the rights, dignity and respect he would want for himself and his family. — 00:03:26
  • ★★★ John says efforts to restrict stories are often efforts to restrict empathy, against his faith and, more importantly, against a functioning society. — 00:03:26 · empathy

In the description and comments

  • ★★ The description says John feels very unsettled about the video, as his relationship with religious institutions, even progressive ones, is increasingly complicated. — video description
  • ★★★ The description says people trying to restrict access to information and human rights do not speak for John or for all Christians. — video description
  • ★★ The description says John made the video before the leak of the Supreme Court's apparent decision to overturn Roe, while travelling a lot for the Turtles movie. — video description
  • ★★ In a channel comment John says he and Sarah have for many years supported access to all forms of reproductive care, including abortion care, and will continue to. — creator comment · Sarah Urist Green
  • ★★★ In a channel comment John says his religion is not centered on whether God is real or on an afterlife: he does not care if God is made up, only what God wants for us and our world. — creator comment
  • ★★ In a channel comment John says the Gospels make clear how to treat the poor, the marginalized, prisoners, the hungry and refugees, so his conclusions focus on injustice in this world. — creator comment

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: book censorship

Also: Works: Gospel of Matthew · Looking for Alaska (novel) · Turtles All the Way Down

Concepts: afterlife · Christianity · dignity · empathy · evangelicalism · gender identity · golden rule · human sexuality · mental disorder · racism · religion · social exclusion · transubstantiation

Places: United States

Only in the description or credits: abortion · existence of God · Human rights · Roe v. Wade · Sarah Urist Green · Supreme Court of the United States · Turtles All the Way Down (film)

Also centred on book censorship: Brotherhood 2.0: May 2: Book Banning · I Am Not A Pornographer · On the Banning of Looking for Alaska · About THAT Scene in Looking for Alaska · John Green's Brother

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