The future of Conservatism lies in our beliefs and values not by throwing them away. We need to shed associations that bind us to past failures but hold faith with those things that make us Conservatives.
I don't know what religious people do. I kind of wished I'd been a Christian with the blind faith that God is doing the right thing. As a Buddhist you feel like you have more control over the situation and that you can change your karma.
Ever since the Crusades when Christians from western Europe were fighting holy wars against Muslims in the near east western people have often perceived Islam as a violent and intolerant faith - even though when this prejudice took root Islam had a better record of tolerance than Christianity.
Until as recently as November of 1966 I had complete faith in the Warren Report. Of course my faith in the Report was grounded in ignorance since I had never read it.
An investigator starts research in a new field with faith a foggy idea and a few wild experiments. Eventually the interplay of negative and positive results guides the work. By the time the research is completed he or she knows how it should have been started and conducted.
In thinking about religion and society in the 21st century we should broaden the conversation about faith from doctrinal debates to the larger question of how it might inspire us to strengthen the bonds of belonging that redeem us from our solitude helping us to construct together a gracious and generous social order.
The faith religious believers have in God is small compared to the faith people put in politicians knowing how many times they have been disappointed in the past but still insisting that this time it will be different.
The royals - all of them especially Prince Philip and Prince Charles - have done outstanding work with the faith communities.
Jews survived all the defeats expulsions persecutions and pogroms the centuries in which they were regarded as a pariah people even the Holocaust itself because they never gave up the faith that one day they would be free to live as Jews without fear.
If you went to your closet today would you pull out the same outfit you wore 10 or 15 years ago? You wear feelings and faith differently as well.