This is a quite deep question and I see alot of interesting theories. I do agree that when magic is performed, why not claim it to be magic, without actually explaining that you're a supernatural god? The requirements of what something has to be to be scientific are quite strict. If you take a look at common quantumn physics as an example, there are many problem. Take these as an example:
If a tree falls, far away from you, and noone is there to observe or within its range to hear, will it actually make a sound? It might sound like an obvious question but there's no proof since noone's there to observe and therefor a scientific obscurity.
What my point is, is that i hear some of you say "most people will understand that we're using sleight of hand anyway". The human mind is quite prone to what's unlogical to their eyes. A common way of thinking is "I do not believe in ghosts, but I do fear them". Even though they are pretty damn sure there's no such things as ghosts, not many of them would want to test it by being placed in an old abandoned house and stay there overnight. What we see here is a glitch in our logics. And I do believe that by us doing magic, and them not being able to explain it, we might be able to reach that glitch.
Of course we cannot go to our family members and present ourselves as magical, as they already know our history. But to a new audience we're obscure and devious, and even if they do not wish to admit it to us, the thought of how it happened will be gnawing in their head.
I do believe that this is what separates a good performance from a bad. A good performance should leave the spectator in a shocked, amazed and wondered state of mind, whereas a bad performance simply doesnt make an impression.
I personally don't believe that in performances where you try to explain things scientifically you will be successfull. You might do an awesome performance where you tear a dollar bill and then restore it, but if you explain it by telling them that the anatoms are restoring themselves, the audience already knows they're not, that will just make a cool and good trick somewhat ruined. But whereas we have the magical word "magic", we simply refer to it as an explanation for how an impossible action happened.
I'm not by any means claiming myself to be giving the correct answers, just giving my theories on the whole matter.