why we ultimately need God

People who search for "the meaning of life" are trying to articulate analogous questions about the world. They want to know what would enable us to understand the diverse and frequently bizarre phenomena that constitute reality. But also they wonder whether things can be as they are because of some benign intention of a quasi-human sort that pervades the universe. Theories about a deity who has created everything are often secondary to this concern. Ideas about God's essence—whether he is infinitely wise or good or powerful—pertain to mainly technical problems in theology. To argue about the Supreme Being's attributes is to engage in an exercise that probably has minor importance for most people. William James was quite right when he claimed that the "cash value" of such deliberations resides in our primordial need to reassure ourselves about an ultimate good will in the cosmos, a basic friendliness toward us and what we value, a final haven or support for our ideals and aspirations.

James thought that the "need of an eternal moral order is one of the deepest needs of our breast. Whether this is true of everyone, and whether or not the need is satisfiable, it helps explain our search for meaning in both senses of the term and regardless of specific religious belief. We know what it is to pursue ideals that express human values and elicit relevant emotional responses. The crucial quest for most people is whether anything of the sort is justified by objective conditions in the universe. We may be willing to remain ignorant about the chances of our own immortality, and even about the ultimate fate of whatever we consider to be good. We mainly want to be assured that a controlling power exists in terms of which all things could be explained—if only we had intellects capable of understanding its nature—and that it is purposeful in some manner we might recognize as having consum­mate value.

- Irving Singer

We don't really want explanations of how the Universe was created. We don't even want an explanation of why we are here. What we really want is the assurance that somewhere out there is a moral being that has things in order and we're not going to get fucked ultimately. Fear of the unknown.