If you look at the evolution of human thought, hard sensory data cannot be the foundation of thought. For example, the ancient people had eyes and could easily see the sun and moon. However, that hard sensory data, did not prevent them from thinking these two natural objects were divine. If anything, this sensory data, confirmed their sensory expectations, from learned theory, about what these objects needed to represent.
What is fundamental is not hard sensory data, but our sensory expectations for this data and what it appears to mean. How you see reality, stems from your conceptual foundations.
As an example in science, nobody; few, expected to see hard sensory evidence of galaxies forming so fast and so early within the universe. But such hard data was recently found by a new more powerful telescope. Even thought this data was in front of everyone for decades, since they did not expect to see it, due to the existing theory, the brain will ignore it or reason it away. But now the genie is out of the bottle, due to hard data, nobody can deny. Galaxies, such as these, were speculated decades ago, but they placed out of the science mind, since the current theory denied their reality. Conceptual foundations can make you blind or give you extra sight.
In politics, one side of the isle can see riots, and the other side sees freedom fighters. Why don't both see the same thing, if both can describe the objective details, in the same way? It is due to sensory expectations coming from your conceptual foundation of thought. Data in is processed by this foundation. When Atheist argue about no hard data for God, they cannot see it, even if it was front of them, since they do not expect to see it, by their own conceptual foundation.
Conceptual foundations are not as tangible as the sensory data, which is why even science changes theories with time. As new data contradicts, old expectation, needed changes makes new sight appear.
Religion would be the base foundation, since it deals with the nebulous nature of all conceptual foundations. Faith is not about the eyes seeing, since that is influenced by conceptual expectations. But rather faith is more about being true to what you expect to see, even that which may not even be conscious yet, to the eyes. Some scientists had faith they would see very early galaxies, even though the pretentious consensus had to clue since they were blinded by their own conceptual bias. Religion teach us to be humble and hopeful to future clarity.
