Full Idea
My position is that beliefs, like acts, arrange themselves on a continuum of degrees of voluntariness, ranging from quite a bit to none at all.
Gist of Idea
Some beliefs are fairly voluntary, and others are not at all so
Source
Linda Trinkaus Zagzebski (Virtues of the Mind [1996], I 4.2)
Book Reference
Zagzebski,Linda: 'Virtues of the Mind' [CUP 1996], p.66
A Reaction
I'm sure we have no idea how we came to hold many of our beliefs, and if we see a cat, nothing seems to intervene between the seeing and the believing. But if you adopt a religion, believing its full creed is a big subsequent effort.