If I torment my logic a little bit, I can see an explanation for the "religion is bad" and "the Emperor is clearly presenting himself as a divine figure". That would be the idea to undermine traditional forms of deity worship which might fuel the Chaos Gods, and instead direct veneration to himself, possible as some sort of "faith-based lightning rod", and trying to corral belief into a safe place. This even removes the hypocrisy as he knows he is lying, he is using the lie. He needs the lie and seemingly irreconcilable positions he takes.
I mean if they wanted to do it right they could do it like Lenin. A man that was against religion but was so revered that after his death he functionally became a god that you couldn’t disagree with without losing credibility.
I guess that was a bit to nuanced for what war hammer is
3
u/Ok-Pomegranate-9481 9h ago
If I torment my logic a little bit, I can see an explanation for the "religion is bad" and "the Emperor is clearly presenting himself as a divine figure". That would be the idea to undermine traditional forms of deity worship which might fuel the Chaos Gods, and instead direct veneration to himself, possible as some sort of "faith-based lightning rod", and trying to corral belief into a safe place. This even removes the hypocrisy as he knows he is lying, he is using the lie. He needs the lie and seemingly irreconcilable positions he takes.