What do we really think of God ?
I struggle with faith. But I am inspired by other people, and their search and relationship with the divine. Last year I took the time to start a project I have been thinking about for years: to hear what other people really believe.
200 interviews and lots of data
Armed with the latest census I traveled throughout New York City interviewing strangers about their belief in ‘god’. Not the doctrine of whatever faith they had; but their personal thoughts and practice (if any) on any god, the eternal or whatever they wanted to call it. Here is an example
Inspired by Studs Terkel
I was inspired by Studs Terkel’s book Working and his approach to hearing the stories of ordinary people. Just as work is universal, so our quest for meaning and the divine is common to us all. I tried to take the same approach, to interview people keeping it in their voice. My hope is by reading many different stories we might find some insight into the whole.
No hypothesis. No goal
I set out on this without any direction. I don’t have a theory to prove. I am personally very inspired by other people’s faith, so just the very act of doing the project was my impetus.