Bertrand Russell defined “belief” as thought at rest.Without some beliefs we would be starting from scratch every moment. Beliefs are the memories and assumptions we must make to hold a worldview together from one moment to the next. It is important to test our beliefs whenever we can, but no one has the energy or time to test every belief about every aspect of life.
“Faith” is not so much about belief as it is about value. As William James pointed out, in real life we have to make decisions and, often times, we cannot gain complete information in the time frame allotted. If we were immortals it might be wise to live as skeptics, withholding opinion about anything of which we were not rock certain. We are not immortals, however; and if we care about anything or anyone in this life, we have pressing decisions to make. Faith is whatever we bet our lives on.
In this world of ambiguities, if we wait for the smoke to clear completely, the battle is always over.