Things we once attributed to God(s):

• Sun
• Moon
• Lightning
• Volcanic eruptions
• Hurricanes
• Tornados
• Earthquakes
• Universe's Inception
• Life from non-life
• Species (plants/animals)
• Crop Harvest
• Death

What's left:

• Sun
• Moon
• Lightning
• Volcanic eruptions
• Hurricanes
• Tornados
• Earthquakes
• Universe's Inception
• Life from non-life
• Species (plants/animals)
• Crop Harvest
• Death

When there are no more gaps for God to hide in, what then? This list is certainly not intended to be inclusive of all the silly things once attributed to God, just a simple example of the diminishing returns on an investment - i.e. a belief in some ultimate Creator.

Let me pose a hypothetical because I think it has some application to some time in the future. Suppose there are no gaps in scientific knowledge where a Creator could possibly be applied. What then? Do you abandon a belief or simply change that belief to conform to the reality we've come to understand through scientific discovery?

Side question: Suppose there is a God, but it is not a personal one. Does it then become obsolete to worship such an entity? Would religion simply go away in such a circumstance given how most (if not all) are based upon a personal God?

On the moon

There will always be a god that explains what we can't/don't understand. It frightens us to think we can't understand something and we need an explanation for it. That's why gods were created in the first place. It also makes us feel more important if we have a higher individual meaning.

Under my desk. Right now.

Here:

Not a religious person but from what I understand, God is more of a spiritual being. He's not "hiding" anywhere. If I was religious then this thread would be very offensive to me.

I don't think we will ever understand everything, at least not with the cognitive capacity we have today. And even if we did, there would still be a large group of people using God to explain phenomena either because of ignorance or other reasons.

For example, people still say "good" behavior is evidence of a higher power even though there's perfectly fine naturalistic reasons that people are good; most people simply haven't considered them for whatever reason. And if the mechanisms behind certain phenomena could be explained, people would still turn to God to explain "why" those mechanisms in place. For example, when people discovered that the Earth revolved around the sun and gave only an illusion of the sun rising, people still credited God as being the underlying force that causes the mechanism in the first place.

But for questions like "why does the universe exists?", I don't think we will ever be able to answer that. Will people continue to use God as the "explanation" (I use the term "explanation" very loosely) for questions like that? I don't know.

Hidden in the desires of people to worship something.  Take out God, and you have people sticking videogames in their signatures, praising the glory of what they perceive will win their platform of choice more followers.

I am still awaiting atheistic art that ends up having similar enduring value as theistic works.  Oh, I see some corporate stuff, but the likes of Star Trek isn't even a preaching piece for secular humanism any longer.  What it is now is nothing but a device to entertain people.  Mind you, the Star Trek reboot does a great job of that, but still, it misses the moralizing of Gene Roddenbury.

Do I go with the Golden Compass?  Maybe that is it. 

Problem in this individualistic culture, about the only thing that unites people now is human tragedy.  On the religious front, at least you get some positive fellowship, rather than that of suffering.  You get some unity that does't require a bomb going off.

And pardon my being very blunt here, but I am disappointed by threads like this.  They are generally simplistic in their views and really are just rehashing.  I can run the book of Job ending and have people get back to me when they understand everything.  Issues in regards to theological stuff generally is far more involved with limits of human reasoning and capacities than with the God side.  Free will vs determinism?  Where did everything come from?  Where are we heading?  Is there life after death?  Why is there evil in the world?  All these also show how stupid and weak humans are in the big picture.  Plug in other ones also.

If humans weren't so weak, then we would have more secure futures, not worry about life after death (death would of been cured), and not have to worry about human suffering.  But, these problems remain, showing how pathetic humans are currently.

Well, except when acting in non-normal manners and transcending the natural order of things.

Ignore my comment. I commented on the thread title.