If a civilization develops a secular power than matches with an existing religious power exercised by a 'god' in the past, then people can start to question the god's existence. However both trees do not remain static, a god that previously was 'debunked' can do something new and then people can start to believe in it.
An attempt to disillusion the followers of a certain god would threaten to choke off the flow of spiritual energy toward that god, and as such, would be interpreted as a direct attack against that god. Congratulations, you just made a powerful enemy (pretty much the exact
definition of a powerful enemy), and because the "miracles" you intend to perform must relate to the god's own sphere(s), you're going to have to beat him at his own game, on his own turf, when he's fighting for his life. I don't like your odds. So, this would be a viable path to supplant a god that is already dead or forgotten (or to make up an entirely new god altogether, with power over 1 or more unclaimed spheres), but not a way to usurp a deity that is still very much alive & kicking.
Then again, deposing a god with the help of
another god with a closely related sphere sounds much more plausible. This could even be one possible "real-world" perception of how gods might steal spheres from each other.
Basically, nowhere in the game would it ever mechanically establish that gods are or are not real. It should always be theoretically possible for a character to believe that all gods are false and that religion is just a form of magic
Even in a game with the "Divine vs. Arcane" slider all the way over at Divine? I disagree--if the player wants to run the game
their way, let them. Also, don't forget that this is a game with giants, dragons, and bronze colossi walking around, not to mention the more bizarre titans & forgotten beasts. With that kind of background, gods are hardly much of a stretch.
He means that, for reasons understood only by him . . . we should all stop questioning him and start agreeing with him mindlessly.
We're not going to do this again, are we? Perhaps it'd be best if you and GoblinCookie ceased responding to each other, even indirectly, for the rest of this thread.