"Like I said, philosophy and belief. We'd see it all the time back home. If one person wants to save the world by prayer and supplication to an all-powerful deity, and another person has no belief in the divine and instead wants to save the world through applied science and technology, how could the two ever work together?"

He was understating at best. Ask any three mages about which path was true and proper, and you'd get four different answers at least.