some of hp's questions:

My main question these days: What's a healthy/productive/responsible way for a radical skeptic to live (esp. w/ regards to religion)? Preliminary answer: I'm toying with the idea of approaching the life as a theater (cf. Shakespeare's "All the world's a stage"), in which we play our parts robustly, even if, in some real sense, "insincerely" and without any assurance that our performance is legitimate....f course, when people here that I approach life as a theater/work of art, they worry that I'm not taking life seriously enough. However, I would say those people don't know me very well and more to the point don't know how seriously I take art. A theatrical approach to life doesn't give me the license to hurt people b/c it might make a good "scene." Instead, it mainly helps by getting me to do 2 things: 1) To take every action as seriously as I would take the actions of my characters were I composing a novel; and 2) To let me act "earnestly" (or at least passionately) even if I lack an inner, "sincere" feeling of good intentions/attitudes/etc.

and later on...
While I may be accused, at first glance, of being "fake," I would defend my actions in the following way: 1) Is being fake really so bad in and of itself? Isn't it mainly bad when it is self-serving (brown-nosing to get a job, acting smart to get people's attention, etc.)? On the contrary, my performance is largely solicitous towards others (e.g., my daughter my students, et al).

2) Isn't my desire to do the things I want to do to help others (despite my inner cynicism, or at least confusion about what I "really" feel/want) a sign that I actually do feel a certain positive way? In other words, while I may lack the inner convictions to motivate my actions, isn't my conviction to act as though I have the convictions itself an important, telling conviction? Put in F&Z terms, isn't the desire to want to live well a sign that it's not too late to live well (or, at least, to attempt it with full passion)? Put in awkward religious terms, isn't one's desire to overcome a past of guilt and sin despite feelings of inadequacy to accomplish that overcoming itself already a sign that something has helped you (start to) overcome it?