when it becomes optional?

(1) Does " the end of god-worship" mean "the termination/death of god-worship"?
(2) Does "when it becomes optional" mean "when (the belief of) god-worship becomes optional"?

Context:

And neither do we. The decay and collapse and discredit of god-
worship does not begin at any dramatic moment, such as Nietzsche's
histrionic and self-contradictory pronouncement that god was dead.
Nietzsche could no more have known this, or made the assumption
that god had ever been alive, than a priest or witch doctor could ever
declare that he knew god's will. Rather, the end of god-worship dis
closes itself at the moment, which is somewhat more gradually revealed,
when it becomes optional, or only one among many possible beliefs. For
the greater part of human existence, it must always be stressed, this !°op
tion!± did not really exist. We know, from the many fragments of their
burned and mutilated texts and confessions, that there were always hu-
man beings who were unconvinced. But from the time of Socrates, who
was condemned to death for spreading unwholesome skepticism, it was
considered ill-advised to emulate his example. And for billions of people