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... the witness of Scripture which tells us that we will not be saved without mercy, without love, without forgiveness of others, and to be blunt, without works. How do you resolve this conflict?

The more Protestant formulation is that God requires faith from men/women ... that they should be saved ...
John 6:28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?

29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

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Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Having then faith in Jesus Christ, ... the believer will perform works which are pleasing in God's sight.

Such is the promise of Jesus, Himself ...
John 14:12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
Such is not difficult to accept, ... since, as believers in Jesus Christ, ... we are re-made in Christ's image ...

Our old life is passed away ... God makes everything about us new ...
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
The scriptures go on to say that God, Himself, will finish the work of salvation which He has begun in us (believers).
Philippians 1:3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,

4 Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy,

5 For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now;

6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
Now ... as new creations in Christ, we are, indeed, called upon to live according to the salvation which has been given unto us.

We (believers) love and obey Him, not to obtain salvation ... but, because He has loved us ... and has saved us.
1 John 4:19 We love Him, ... because He first loved us.

"Having then faith in Jesus Christ, ... the believer will perform works which are pleasing in God's sight. "

I have to disagree pretty strongly if you imply that a believer will not do things which are displeasing to God. Believers still sin, this we know, and sin is displeasing to God. Moreover, James seems to be addressing those who believe, but do not show mercy. Mere belief is not enough, if we understand it to be an intellectual assent, it is insufficient.

We're getting a bit close to the holiday weekend, and having a few deadlines before heading out of town, I'll cut the chase. What do you mean by faith? Would you mind defining this in your own words? Whether we are arguing past each other or not depends upon how we define faith. Your post seems to imply that good works follow automatically from Faith. Can you elaborate on that? I see your quote from Philippians 1:6, and understand this to be describing God's faithful work. God keeps his end of the bargain, we know that well, it is man who often falls off the wagon. Scripture is quite clear that those who believe can indeed turn from God.

The author of the article suggests that we can be reconcilled with an understanding faith as being a faith that works in Love. Would you be comfortable with that as a definition of what you mean by faith in the formulation, "we are saved by faith alone?"