I haven't followed this entire thread. Has anybody mentioned the proof of Gods in the Elder Scrolls? The beneficial blessings don't mean much, but witnessing Martin Septim turn into an aspect of a dragon, presumably Akatosh, seems a bit beyond magic. And the Elder Scrolls. Are they the scrolls of the Gods?
They're fragments of creation with power beyond the Aedra and Daedra. All possible pasts, presents, and futures are recorded in them. They're eternally in a state of existence and non-existence.
EDIT: I'm surprised there isn't a larger gathering of folks who essentially worship the Elder Scrolls. They are enigmas and wholly neutral, simply information and prophecy that requires a steep price to be paid for insight. Aedra are literally dead and almost completely non-interfering and the Daedra operate on a morality beyond mortals. Why not worship the Scrolls?
In my mind, the various 'religions' scattered across Tamriel, are all (usually) storylines a particular race imbibed, as it were, from a specific region they acclimated (evolved) with/into over the centuries. The gods and sacred texts are tools used to inspire a race towards a common vision of prosperity. In other words, these gods who figurehead many of these religions, are aspects of the collective mind which has a need to respond triumphantly against the changing climate of particular regions across Tamriel. These responses to Nirn's raw, elemental forces are usually technological, as in the case of the Dwemer.
The Nords revere Kynareth, for example, because 'She' symbolizes Sky fertility - the Nords have taken to agricultural practices, and thus rely now on the rain, wind, sun, etc to sustain their culture. How do the Nords respond to this goddess? They create artifacts in which to venerate Her. Altars, shrines, amulets. And they all work...for a Nord who believes the storyline. However, if the climate changes radically, and Skyrim melts into the climate of, say, Valenwood, first, the Nords may need to turn to the hunting and gathering (depending on the disaster in Skyrim) of the Bosmer. Suddenly, the Nords will need to rely on different methods of obtaining food resources, and within a few generations, they acclimate to the Valenwood-type climate. Suddenly, too, their adherence to some of the previous gods and goddesses don't really work anymore in the new environment. The myth/storyline of Kyne is weakened, and the artifacts and rituals are becoming obsolete, because Her climate is missing. So, the Nord tribes get together, with their Jarls and their court wizards, and, with the support of the people, rally behind a new Hero. A new figure who can rise to godhood, if this figure can succeed in becoming the figurehead of a new, inspirational storyline; who symbolically represents the new (technological) innovation/motivation a culture can thrive on for generations to come.
But 'evil' creeps in when an individual or a collective get too emotionally invested in a storyline. Evil is thus defined as 'tunnel-vision.' The Dwemer are a good example. Technological progress for the sake of well...progress, is tunnel-visioned. And Heimskr is a good example of the foolish handwaving, lip service, and thinking that if the Nords yell loud enough, their artistic and aesthetic preference for Talos is 'superior' to what the Empire envisions. The predicament, though, for both the Empire and the Stormcloaks, is that they have bought into the monoculture myth of the Elves. Presumably, the Altmer. The Empire, as Idolaf Battle-Born says, is all about Progress. For the Empire, technological progress is the storyline they have invested in. The collective of gods, the Imperial pantheon, is a network of aspects or processes that work to umbrella a melting pot of races. That collective, technological Progress, or Reason - like the Dwemer before them - is the God. Note that 'superiority' always comes from a monoculture. It's a type of tunnel-vision that refuses to let go of an innovation or set of ideas that defined a particular culture in some particular era. But when that era fades away, that set climate also does; therefore, the "gods" or aspects/processes that once provided a way for the collective mind to answer to the raw forces of Nirn are not effective anymore. The heretics are usually the ones that have to ignite change and chaos. Thus, a 'deity' like Sithis or Mehrunes Dagon are not 'evil,' but are a part of the collective psyche to change the tune in the music piece, the storyline. Bottom line: It's all about art. Whether the gods or aspects be seen as music, a painting, or a storybook. The value judgments are all aesthetic preferences, and these in turn, create 'morality.'
All responses, again, to the quite 'impersonal,' 'undead' nature of Nirn, and probably our real world universe as well. Art makes it personal and have meaning. But only if you are emotionally invested in it. That's why there are a Variety of Faiths in the Empire. But they are all neither here nor there. That's Sithis, folks.
I would quite naturally advocate Sithis as my 'religion,' because, in the Void, everything, yet nothing, is Potential Form. Sithis is Everything, yet No-Thing simultaneously. So, the "Void" Is all the other gods and godesses, while Is Not simultaneously. That matches my real life belief.