Faith is the excuse we give ourselves to believe things without good reason

[Starboard Tack]

131. The choice one makes is based on the evidence, or lack thereof

I can't chose to believe in god, OK? I find the evidence so far provided to be far less than compelling, and there is literally nothing on a conscious level I can do to change that. It's not some sort of light switch that can just be toggled. And to be perfectly honest, I find the implication that somehow I COULD just up and choose to believe in god again "if I really wanted to" to be completely insulting.

I also find the evidence less than compelling, but others obviously find it compelling. I'm not suggesting that you or I could just up and choose to believe in god again. That choice would be based on a changing of the evidence, which may be different for every individual. Happens every day, but usually in the opposite direction when "believers" become disillusioned. Many years ago I had a close Italian friend, a former catholic priest and graduate professor of theology. He became disillusioned with the church, having witnessed so much corruption and abuse from the inside. He abandoned it, after believing in it and being nurtured by it since the age of eight, when he first entered the seminary. He could no longer be part of something he had lost faith in. He no longer trusted the church, but his belief in god remained strong. I questioned him on that and he assured me that the two were not connected. His belief in god was based on his own personal experiences, as was his disbelief in the church.
Belief is a point we reach after looking at the evidence presented and forming a conclusion, based on a combination of all the evidence and personal experience to date. We call it belief because we are not sure; we do not know, but for one reason or another we choose. Some may find the choice easy, others not so easy. I had another friend who found himself sailing single handed through several days of nasty weather. One night, totally exhausted, he claims he had an encounter with god and from that moment became a fervent believer. His switch was thrown. We may conclude that he was hallucinating and he probably was. He also is intelligent enough to realize it was probably a hallucination, but he chose to believe it was real. And for him, it was.
We all look at something and come away with as many different images. In a way, we are all delusional. Reality and truth are extremely subjective.