Lionel Tiger, in his book “God’s Brain”, implies that religion is just a chemical reaction, no more no less. To explain a universe where the precise tuning of all the physical constants and physical laws make intelligent life possible, I think the more rational thought process is to believe in a creator.
I tend to agree with Stephen Hawking who said “It would be very difficult to explain why the universe should have begun in just this way, except as the act of a God who intended to create beings like us”.
Believing in a creator is not blind faith – look around you, interact with others, read poetry, listen to music, go to an art gallery – the universe has a purpose and we will meet the creator one day.
Even Richard Dawkins says “There could be something incredibly grand and incomprehensible and beyond our current understanding”. Yes – he has just described God.
I believe religion should stay out of the scientific debate. However, I also feel science should generally steer clear of the philosophical or ethical debate. Science cannot tell us what the purpose of the universe is, or whether it has a purpose. We are like insects in a sphere. We have no idea what is going on outside the sphere.
The Curved Road 