I Believe!!!!

okay, I'm going to try and articulate my initial problem about the 'god helmet' project - this may go into a theological ramble, try to stay with me, it maybe useless - but today i turned a corner on the project.

I don't believe in God, I'm not a spiritual person, I don't seek approval or direction from a higher source... however, I find the cultural position of organized religion fascinating. It's here that my problem began - for me the helmet started as a deeply personal artifact, it was for solemn personal reflection. Today, by suggesting that we ask others to make the helmets, we released the project into the social domain. That's not to say that it was introspective, but it was about the psychological ramifications of EM - not the social implications of a technologically negotiated belief. I'm sure it was my own short-sightedness, but i think involving 'the masses' in a project about religion/faith/feeling is important.

I guess people approach their faith in different ways, some are quiet believers - holding their thoughts to themselves for their own benefits - this type of faith can range from hardcore catholicism to buddism or just pain new age meditation. I'm more interested (as always) in the politics of the situations - the new social structures, the new negotiations of power, the new cultures of use and re-use. Once the 'church of assisted belief' has gone into the wild, it'll start to pull up really interesting questions.