[b_sharp]

"Another philosophical addendum for everyone here. Is God even necessary for said universe to have taken shape?"

No.

I have a better question: What is necessary for the existence of God?

[RunningWolf]

They yet again confirm what they deny

Julian Huxley as follows below, Sagan said essentially the same thing in different ways. That is is how the theories and their zealous adherents are connected. It is by the core beliefs and values of those whom become ideologues of the cult that they are connected.

"Darwinism removed the whole idea of God as the creator of organisms from the sphere of rational discussion. Darwin pointed out that no Supernatural designer was needed; since natural selection could account for any new form of life, there is no room for a supernatural agency in its evolution." —*Julian Huxley, "At Random, A Television Preview," in Evolution after Darwin, (1960) p. 41.

W.