“The best synopsis of our discussion is: passion always precedes intellect in the formation of belief...”
No; you are introducing an absolute: ALWAYS. Sometimes it is the reverse: Intellect precedes passion.
“...including in the formation of your own belief from post #86 that ‘spirituality is simply emotion writ large.’”
And I stand by that, because spirituality is quite distinct from intellectualism; and is — at its very core — emotional; indeed, it can’t be otherwise.
The psychologist William James defined spirituality as “the feelings, acts, and experiences of individual men in their solitude, so far as they apprehend themselves to stand in relation to whatever they may consider the divine.”
I would ask that you consider this idea and give it a great deal of reflection, for years to come if necessary: “Man prefers to believe what he prefers to be true.” (Sir Francis Bacon)