Is Faith, Or The Lack Thereof, A Choice?

A reader writes:

In a recent post, you wrote that "Even if you believe, erroneously, that homosexuality is a choice, so, obviously, is religion." I've heard that from a number of people recently, and I'm curious as to whether this is actually true. I certainly don't remember choosing to be an Atheist--as far back as I can trace, it simply fit in with what I believed and how I perceived the world around me. At what age did I choose to be an Atheist? What were my range of choices? Does the fact that both my parents were atheists decrease my choice?

I'm curious as to when you chose to be a Catholic. When you write about your belief and faith, I don't recall getting the sense of you weighing multiple options and choosing the best answer. Often, faith can be very, very difficult.

People ask me what it is like to believe in "nothing," or to not know what comes after death. I can say one thing: it isn't easy. Sometimes I get a panic attack when I find myself imagining what it's like on the other side. Sometimes, when I find myself in troubles, I wish that there was something outside of myself that would arrange the situation so that it would work out in the end. It would be very convenient for me to believe in that. And I don't blame those people who do believe that--because I don't think they chose to. I think they believe in it because, well, they believe in it. I don't believe I have the capacity to simply choose to believe in God, or in Christ's love, the way I can choose what I'm going to wear tomorrow.

That's why I detest the smugness of the New Athiests. Their scorn and anger towards the religious of the world comes from their belief that beliefs are a rational choice, taken in the cold light of day, selected from facts. They think that they chose to be enlightened, and that those who didn't choose the same enlightenment are choosing to be ignorant. 

My point was a narrow one: if you only support hate crime laws for what are called "immutable" characteristics, then you cannot coherently include religion and exclude sexual orientation. Even if religion is not experientially a choice in the first place - like, say, a free-standing choice between gelato flavors - it can certainly be abandoned later. In fact, a huge number of Americans shift their faith attachments over a lifetime - far greater than the minusucle number of people who claim to have been "cured" of homosexuality. The only explanation for the far right's embrace of hate crimes for religion and not sexual orientation is animus.

The broader points my reader makes I take entirely.