I think that part of it is that to some extent we all grow up in authoritarian (parental, schooling) systems where we conditioned from early childhood to believe that anyone with authority must be telling the truth.

Of course, we are also conditioned as to how we perceive that authority.

When we grow up in religious societies, the influence is subtle and powerful. There is a god. Be careful what you say and do. Obey me and pay the priests. It's been a racket for thousands of years.

Until one understands how socialization is nothing more than brainwashing, and the human brain was made to be brainwashed, there is little we can do except eradicate religion. Communist China and Russia tried. Not sure how successfully. Northern Europe seems to have achieved it. The French have a very secular society. The German government subtracts a tax from all its workers which it pays to the Catholic church.