My take on their comment was that they know this but consider it their 'religion' anyways because they don't understand the process and so, in the absence of true understanding, take it on faith alone that the process actually works out

But the evidence is all around us even if you don't understand the processes themselves: Science built us a moon landing, religion built us the dark ages

I know it is a hard comparison to make, but if you don'thave faith in the scientific method, you get idiots like... populists. And they can just call "fake news" and be done with it.

Truth is not an absolute value. The science can be clear as day, but if it is not supported by the people, it will simply be rejected. You gotta have people believe in science for it to be valuable.