The time to answer that question has come, once and for all. The answer is of great significance not only to quench the thirst of inquisitive human mind but also to see if the religious conflicts that are raging around the globe can be brought to an end. Too many innocent children, men and women are being killed in the name of God!
Through out our known history, the question of existence of God has been on the minds of humans. The curiosity to find God has been universal and incessant since ancient times, but the consensus and truce between atheists and believers have been elusive. Don't despair! Hope is around the corner. We are in such incredible times of scientific advances and technology that the decisive answer is within reach, but where will we find the answer?
For millennia we have been looking up, literally as well as figuratively, in the skies, initially with naked eyes, later with the aid of telescope from the time of Galileo Galilei and more recently with the help of powerful Hubble telescope, but all in vain. We have yet to see a picture of an old man with white beard, in white robe sitting on a golden throne in a far away galaxy, beamed down by the mighty Hubble telescope. Is it because we are looking in the wrong direction or because we are looking for the wrong entity called God? I think it's because of both reasons. May be the reason we have never found an external God is because we have been searching for an objectified or personified entity of human "imagination" which we named God. It's like trying to search for Yoda. Good luck finding him in the Universe. Instead, we may have to look internally into our own brains and minds to understand what God is all about or the mystical experience that we call God.
The current research in neurosciences is beginning to point to the fact that religiosity is going to be explained by neuroanatomy, neurophysiology and neurochemistry. There is fascinating information coming out of fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) analysis of human brain activity. It is as if the fMRI allows us to see mind to some extent but we have to be very careful about how this new knowledge is being interpreted. Beware of some of the scientists who are scientists by profession but not by principle, especially if they have a selfish financial interest in selling their research by tagging "God" to their findings. The catchy terminology "God gene" and "God spot" in brain are pervading American debate about the Divine. As a brain surgeon I have operated on many brains and trust me! There is no "God spot". I am concerned about using such terminology for many reasons. To use the word "God" loosely in scientific research is to be irresponsible and to mislead people. Besides, if we have not agreed on the definition of what God is in the first place, how can we even begin to look for his, her or it's existence and verify the claim that one has found God. A healthy dose of skepticism and a little bit of scrutiny will prove that the claims of God in our genes and that humans are hard wired to believe in God are nothing but erroneous interpretation of the research by such God claimers .
I believe that the religiosity researchers must define "God" before they claim that they have found one in our genes or brains. Once they attempt to come up with a consensus for such a definition, it will become obvious that the claims of existence of "God gene" and "God spot" are mere marketing gimmicks.
