In one domain, they are skeptical and thorough, but in the other they’ll just take anything at face value without questioning it. How do they even know which god was responsible? There’s more than one religion claiming to be the one true religion.
It’s also strange to bring up magic in a discussion about medicine.
Belief in a God doesn't require that the believer never questions their own faith. It is possible for them to question it, do their own experiment, and determine that there is a God. They could even start as an atheist scientist.
> How do they even know which god was responsible?
Lots of religions have an answer for this. Probably all of them, but I am only familiar with so many. Sounds like you have taken religion "at face value" and could be more "skeptical and thorough" in your research/understanding of them, to quote yourself.
If you know of a testable hypothesis for any religion, I’d love to know because I’ve never heard one.
I’m open to being convinced, but I’ve never seen or heard anything convincing for any religion.
John 7:17 (Christianity) Kalama Sutta:10 (Buddhism) Alma 32:28-43 (Mormonism)
The other three I read from (Quran, Bhagavad Gita, Torah) might also encourage this approach, but I didn't find the passage. If you are willing to read the verses around Kalama Sutta 10 paired with the test described in Alma, I think that is a 'complete' set of instructions for starting. This complete picture is in the NT too, but split across several books and not beginner friendly.
You cannot "observe" religion externally, just it's practices, like the eating pork thing your sibling brought up. The practices are the dead portion of the religion, just ways to apply the principles the religion is meant to teach. Just like laws change as culture changes, applications must too, and anyone who views their own religion as just practices probably hasn't read their own ancient text or didn't understand it. Anyway, I have given you what you need to make an observation. You'll have to be a scientist and do a hands on test if you expect to discover anything.