The problem comes in because I've been watching the IGS and The Summit in order to figure out where I can introduce my character. From what I can tell, it seems like there's little to no room for an essentially secular Amarr loyalist as every loyalist Amarr character I see is deeply religious and the backstory for the Amarr paints a picture of a society remarkably free of much variation in how genuine people's faith is.
So I want to ask folk's opinions about whether Ievan as he is currently imagined is a viable RP idea. Would I be better off rethinking him? Or even just scrapping the idea?
What you are seeing is merely the result of a successful propaganda campaign waged by the more religious characters. Every loyalist Amarr character tends to understand that when you act in public, its effective to display your faith to enhance your reputation with other loyalist characters. Privately, most characters tend to be a lot less zealous. So you are seeing a distorted image of what the respective characters actual motivations and positions are.
Playing a secular character is perfectly fine. You can get by no problem without ever taking a religious phrase into your mouth and no one will ever bother you because of it. However, perhaps your issue is that you want to play an outspoken atheist? If you do that, then yes, you will have a very difficult time ahead of you in the loyalist camp. Because as an outspoken atheist you are effectively a priest of a heretic religion.
And of course you aren't seeing much people who aren't appearing to be genuine in their faith, only stupid or insane people would publicly show they aren't genuine. That similar to positioning yourself as untrustworthy and a liar. Of course, we know EVE is full of untrustworthy people and liars, just as it is full of people who aren't genuine in their faith.