Real Faith

Derb has this to say about doubt and faith:

It's no crime to change your mind, and a believer might of course doubt his belief. There's a lot to be said, though, for just getting on with life, and in particular for resolving your doubts. Having come to doubt you're on the right path, weigh the evidence as best you can. Then either stay on the path or (as in my case) get off it onto some other. What seems unconvincing to me is the claims by some believers to have wrestled with doubt for years or decades. To people making those claims, the only thing I can think of to say is: "Isn't it time you, like, made up your cotton-pickin' mind?"

Well, yes. Constant doubt would mean paralysis. No one lives with that kind of doubt or you would be immobilized. But constantly holding your beliefs at some distance, being willing always to reassess and review them, is essentially a description of the scientific method. In practical life, we need to believe basic things in order to function. But when reality and experience reveal them to be untrue, we have to discard them. So let us review: there were no WMDs in Iraq; the US cannot afford its current entitlement state; the stock market remains over-valued; Iran will one day become a nuclear power. Now deal with these facts and stop peddling denial as conservatism.