We humans since ancient times wondered and questioned our existence on this planet earth and universe at large. Our ancestors during the Bronze Age came out of the nomadic hunter life and then settled on the banks of fertile rivers for agriculture. With assured supply of food, human population grew exponentially: into villages, cities, kingdoms and then empires. Even when our ancestors were nomadic hunters, we feared the unpredictability of nature, we were in awe of it. The nomadic people who knew nothing what caused a natural phenomenon attributed them to a supernatural entity: Spirits or ancestors which assured them, that the unknown can be known. Gradually when our ancestors settled on the banks of rivers, these spirits were replaced by pantheon of Gods: Gods representing each of the entity they governed. Some governed physical entities: rain, fire, Sun, moon, earth, etc. Others governed abstract entities: fertility, happiness, death and various emotions. Some Gods later developed as ‘Good’ Gods and some into ‘Bad’ Gods. These pantheon of Gods were appeased by priests who in some cultures held the copyright of worship to the Gods thus gradually concentrating power in the society. Even in this 21st century both the idea of supreme governing entity and religion exists. Let’s analyze one of the most important aspect of human life: God and religion.

Creation of Universe and Idea of God:
Does universe really needs a God to function?
There are various scientific theories proposed for the creation of universe. Only one theory stands out because of immense amount of evidence found in our universe: The Big bang theory. I would not discuss the theory in this treatise. Although the theory gives us ample amount of explanation for the present nature of universe, it fails to explain us one thing: What caused the big bang? What caused the imbalance in singularity which in turn created everything: time, space, matter, the whole universe itself!
Gradually we humans would find the answer to this question. And then who knows, we would be able to create our own mini-universes. But that is set in later part of our future. Till then, what should be the answer to the question: Did a supernatural entity caused the Big Bang?
I would like to discuss here about those theists who accept The Big Bang theory and Darwin’s Evolution theory as truth, but believe that the driving hand for these phenomenon is: God. Other theists who set their perspectives on origin of universe and human kind based on some religious scripture are too stupid to even talk about. From now on, wherever I refer theists, I refer to the more rational ones.
Is the belief of these theists right? Is the idea of attributing unknown phenomenon in the universe to a divine entity truly a bright idea?

Let’s analyze this question from the perspective of a theist:

Consider professor X. X is a theist belonging to xyz religion. He spends his time solving the unsolved question of origin of universe and human kind. He has a strong belief that God was the driving hand for creation of universe. He believes that he knows the answer thus all his efforts are to prove his answer, i.e. his belief. One cannot ‘believe’ an answer to a question, thus this perspective is wrong.
Now, let’s analyze this question from the perspective of an atheist:
Consider professor Y.Y is an atheist. She too spends her time in solving the unsolved question of origin of universe and human kind. She has critically examined various aspects of the known universe, and thus arrived at the conclusion that there is no divine entity involved in creation of universe. For her, as per the evidences she has examined, God is non-existent. She too thus believes that she knows the answer and all her efforts are to prove that. One cannot build up one’s perspective based on little evidence of the known universe which is very less. Thus even this perspective is wrong.
Then what is the right perspective?
Considering the evidence which we have collected of the known universe, there is no evidence of a supernatural entity governing the universe. God probably doesn’t exists. But why did I mention before that the perspective of an atheist is wrong then?
The explanation to this question lies in what Socrates used to say:
‘I know that I know everything, because I know that I know nothing!’
This statement is quite paradoxical. But in this paradoxical statement lies the answer to my earlier question. In spite of the little evidence we have about the known universe, we cannot conclude about the creation of universe. Thus, the theist in his/her belief of a supernatural entity creating universe is ignorant. Likewise, an atheist is also ignorant in drawing conclusions based on little evidence.
For a clear explanation of this idea, let me describe an analogy here:
Assume there is a room which is totally dark. Three persons are locked in that room. Their task is to find a black cat in that dark room. Person A ‘believes’ that the black cat exists in that dark room. He doesn’t look for any kind of evidences, he just believes. Person B uses a torch light and searches a certain section of the dark room. He concludes that there is no black cat in that dark room. Person C too uses a torch light to search for the black cat, but he doesn’t conclude about the existence of the black cat in the dark room. He keeps on searching for it. When asked about his conclusion, he just says ‘I don’t know whether the black cat exists or not. But I shall keep on searching the dark room…’
The dark room here is our universe and the black cat is God. Both Person A’s and Person B’s perspective is wrong. Person C chooses to have the right perspective: accepting his ignorance and the drive to search for answers. This perspective is Agnosticism. I find agnostic perspective in matters of creation of universe and God perfectly suitable currently as per our knowledge of the universe.