I get what you are trying to say, but one thing is a completely belief system while the other can be verified and ha been verified by several people that have studied it. Like, yeah you can “study” theism but you will never be able to see the evidence, while in the other case, you can.
I decide to trust people that have shown images and data about the evidence, that are way more prepared than me to research that field. I don’t have enough interest to actually do all the groundwork myself, so I decide to trust the people that are authorities in that field, whom have the proven experience and studies that validate their authority.
As I said, I cannot do the same thing with religious facts, it’s all “he said, she said, it’s in the book, the Lord commanded”… There’s no evidence, no real infraestructure of proof and validation, it’s a complete belief system, and that’s why I don’t consider those people and organizations authorities in these kind of topics.
It’s really simple tbh.
