Presenters

Losing Faith in God, Gaining Faith in Ethnography

Nearly three years ago my wife of 20 years died from cancer, and that experience still shapes my identity and reality. This is especially true, because I just finished writing a book about it, co-authored with Leah. (Her sections are from audiotapes she recorded a few months before her death). Although it is an exaggeration to say that I “lost” my faith in God during her cancer and death—as I have considered myself to be a mostly fallen Catholic for many years—my faith in God was weakened, not strengthened, in the last few years. At the same time, my faith in ethnography was reaffirmed, because my identity as an ethnographer led me to ask Leah to tell the story of her life, her cancer, her death, and her devout faith in God. I believe—I have faith—that when we make an effort to get others to tell the stories of their lives (and their deaths), we get insights into our own lives—and perhaps our afterlives—as well.