How do you form a belief or opinion?

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I always found myself on the sidelines, wandering from place to place with no clear idea what I believe, even though most of my political leanings might fall on the right of the spectrum. Everyone has stronger opinions than I do and I feel pulled either to one way or the other. I am an American, but I love people from all over the world. It's tempting to wish America could be more like Europe, but at the same time I believe that US federalism works best for America. I want to be independent but I don't have the guts to say I am truly neither right-wing or left-wing.

I feel the same with religions too. I want to remain a Christian who sees Jesus as his teacher and savior, but some Christian scripture elements I can't entertain the thought of.

It sounds like you are forming your beliefs. Try not to be swayed by people who are certain of their own beliefs, think about what is important to you, like what you think is ' good' or ' bad'
and think how what people are saying and doing and think how that fits with what you think is right or wrong.
Listen to what other people are saying about issues you may feel strongly about and remember that just because they may have a point it does not necessarily what they are saying is right.
Ask genuine questions when you don't understand what someone is saying. Beware of knee jerk reaction when someone says something at odds with what you believe, I am guilty of this and find that it just turning a discussion into an argument and makes me prone to not thinking through my answers or saying something simply out of spite.
Good luck

I choose my beliefs by going directly to the source of the problem and then think deeply about the philosophy until I find a solution that seems to best address the issue. I don't invest heavily in these ideas because experience shows that individuals who latch onto a belief become consumed by them. It is probably wise to remain aloof of the political discord if only because the world needs people who still can think with relative impartiality.

I'd say my beliefs have been primarily influenced by my family, life experiences, and personality. Things change, your views change. Following politics can make a cynic of anyone, does it really even matter what I believe? It's a special interest of mine I guess but I find myself more and more disillusioned with the process.

I only have beliefs or opinions of subjects that have provided sufficient evidence for me to form an educated opinion / belief. Regarding politics I'm afraid I've seen way too many self serving politicians of all political persuasions and endless corruption scandals, so I'm very cynical of all political parties and believe in none of them. Most politicians are crooks out to feather their own nest.

Also there is the conditioning/brainwashing of young children to believe in things when they are at the age where their minds are easily manipulated and devoured, usually by religious entities. When you have been conditioned to believe such things at a very young age it sometimes takes "life defining moments" to snap free of the delusion.

When assessing the claims of politicians, or journalists, I take the following into account with reference to my own values:

-What disinterested experts have to say about it.
-The ideology of the person making the claim.
-Who their donor's are, and what thee agenda of their donor's is.
-The sorts of stances they have taken in the past.

The reason that I try to assess the the values and agenda of the political claimant, as well as the accuracy of their claims, is because many political questions are values-based, and because facts are often cherry picked to market bad policy.

When assessing a god claim, I take the following into account:

-Whether the claimant has compelling scientific evidence to support their claim.

I have, somewhere, a set of principle beliefs. This is the position from which I consider issues. I can - and have - reflected on and considered those principles, but they are simply givens for me.

Also, I think William James was right when he wrote: