all this posting I been doing on the subject for several years, and now I see all I needed to do was ask LEJ to 'splain it clearly. ☺

ummm...LH, " There has been phenomenal advancement in spiritual concepts in the last 2,000 years."....how, exactly, do you tell? Why ISN'T one from 1000 years ago just as good? Morality? Pragmatic tests? You just LIKE the news ones better?.....We have tests for scientific advancements, but dang me if I can see how you can rate the ultimate 'value' of a spiritual tenet, except in so far as it satisfies you....and there you are with the subjective belief system again....it just feels better.

the basis of "all religious belief **IS** based on faith rather than reason" ...that's why the word 'belief' is used...it means 'can't be demonstrated/tested using standard scientific method'! This also means it can't be DISproven, which allows it to stagger on in many guises by people merely saying, "well, I believe that...or in, X"
Very handy...