system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[ATLA/LoK] How is the Avatar not revered as practically a god?

Spoilers up to season 3 (don't spoil anything after please, im in the middle of LoK) so don't read ahead if you haven't seen it.

In season 2, Korra pretty much defeats what seems to be a god and she basically becomes one as well. Yet people still treat her as a kid and talk down to her, what the heck? She can bend all four elements, is like a spirit guru, and can go into like Insta OP mode and do pretty much anything.

Why do people such as the Earth Queen not cower at her steps? It's not like anyone can beat her.
gpt
Because, as history has shown, the Avatar is still a human and subject to flaws. As such, if an Avatar ever went bad the entire world would instantly put her on a hit list and attempt to have her assasinated. It's why the Avatar has so many enemies (Red Lotus, the entire Fire Nation in Airbender, Equalists, etc).

 If the Avatar goes against your interests, it's a huge roadblock and you want her/him gone. Kill her and you've got about 10-15 years before the new reincarnation is trained well enough to be a threat again. Of course, if you kill the Avatar, you pretty much make political suicide.

As a result, it ends up being a delicate struggle. The Avatar almost never tries to abuse their power, not just through living up to the name and the guidance of the past lives/Rava, but because they would put a massive target on themselves if they did. Furthermore, unless you're prepared to deal with the fallout, you don't go on a mission to take out the elemental messiash, leaving the world without a superhero for a decade. You'll end up looking like ~~Hitler~~ Ozai.  That's why the Earth Queen won't lay a finger on Korra, but at the same time the Queen knows that Korra won't lay a finger on her.