Unnecessary God?

It seems that some people feel our society is making God unnecessary and obsolete and, if they are religious, are understandably bothered by this prospect. But then, should they be?

Hawkings claiming God is unnecessary to explain the universe probably got the most attention, but atheists have felt this way for decades or more; that Hawkings said it...well, famous people, especially authorities in their fields, get attention, even if they have nothing new to say. In fact, I'm surprised he never said this sooner. But there are other examples, such as an opinion piece in the NYTs months ago in which the author expressed his saddness that people don't have to struggle with their beliefs because they have access to all sorts of religious ideas, making religion "easy". Or the Pope saying that evolution isn't enough to explain our origins, that God is necessary for that (even though the Catholic Church does recognize evolution as fact). Or aquaintences I've come across who say science or non-religion based ethics, or any other number of non-religious ideas are making it possible for people to not "need" God.

But I have to wonder, is this really a bad thing for people who do believe? Yes, it opens the possibility (and likelyhood) that less people will believe the same things as those with faith. And I guess that can be a scary prospect. But if someone believe in God because they don't see any other possibilities or because they don't see that they have choices, is that really faith or belief? Should belief be based on ignorance? And if people believe even though they know they have other possibilities, does that mean there's something special about their belief? I don't know. What I do know is that I would rather think and learn and truly believe (or not believe) something and be wrong, than believe the "right" thing because I never thought about it.