My response is that tens of thousands of people worship these gods. We place them above mere mortals. We go to a place of worship to commune with them on a weekly basis. We pay gobs of taxpayer money when these gods require a new place of worship, re - stadium (even though they are perfectly capable of affording their own damn stadium, but I digress).
We also allow them to mostly ignore the laws mere mortals must follow. They break the rules of the society on a regular basis but get special dispensation. Yes, I'd say they are mortal gods of our own creation.