Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-1820614-20150731024240/@comment-61022-20150810153026

I think the problem here is the logic you're applying to the whole situation.

The various pantheons are called gods merely because they are or were worshiped as deities by humanity (or in some cases other alien races) at some point in history. It's all a point of reference, and personal belief. Keeping in mind that every pantheon seems to have a member who is worshiped for some common element, trait, or skill.

The other thing to point out is the fact that these characters are also beings of antiquity, their origins are rife with mystery, conflicting stories, and contrary origins. Each pantheon has it's own creation story about life on Earth even and each one contradicts the other.

You're talking about empirical proof when actually there is none. It's conjecture and heresy at best. They are called gods because it is a common nomenclature and its what the majority of people recognize them as, but is not necessarily a basis of fact. It's just a commonly held classification to these characters.

Why Stark and Pym would discount their claims is as you pointed out, there are plenty of mortals out there with similar abilities, there are also characters who are immortal or long lived that are also not classified as gods, there are beings more powerful than the gods themselves who make no such claim to such titles.

To Stark and Pym, the various pantheons are just another species in the universe that have paranormal powers (by paranormal power, I mean beyond those of a normal human being).

An atheist is one who does not believe in supreme being(s). Which when you look at the pantheons that exist, none of them are truly supreme. In a world where someone as all powerful as the Living Tribunal, and even Galactus himself can be brought low by a mere mortal human being, it's impossible to believe that any one being is supreme.

They all have flaws and limitations that apply to the scientific principals of the universe in which they exist in.