"all religious belief is based on faith rather than reason"

NOT so, my friend! You jes' bin readin' the wrong books, that's all. There has been phenomenal advancement in spiritual concepts in the last 2,000 years...and even significant advancement in some of the mainline churches.

Slavery was once taken for granted, and religiously sanctioned. No more. Women have gained much greater equality in much of the World. There has been a great cross-pollination of religious/philosophical ideas between East and West, revitalizing and broadening people's spirituality. Fewer and fewer people really believe the Pope is (!) infallible (!) anymore. ;-)

Lordy, lordy, LEJ, where have you been? Gotta get this boy a reading list.

"I happen to believe that humans will help other humans if given the option. They don't really need to feel like they're stacking up points in the afterlife in order to give a crust of bread to a starving man."

I couldn't agree more. That IS a spiritual viewpoint you just expressed.

"I don't think religion should be abolished. I would just like to see it diluted by enough rationality that it no longer motivates martyrs. We really would be much better off without them. "

Again, I'm in total agreement. Any wisely applied religion is extremely rational, and based on experience and questioning and testing, not on blind faith. If you can't actualize it, then it's only an idea in someone's mind...or a theory.