Why religion isn't under the same amount of scrutiny?

[devonin]

Pretty sure that "I've spoken with people whose field this is, and they've made these claims" is a slightly stronger claim than "Some guy told me so" I direct your attention to the testimony of expert witnesses in courts. Yes, "It MUST be true because someone with authority said so" is a fallacious claim, but "From my personal experience, this claim has been made by several people educated in the field" is perfectly legitimate for the informal discussion format of this forum.