The OP states that

"Science cannot say whether we need a god"

It most certainly can. This guy is begging to say that the universe cannot be created except by a god, by an intelligence. It's the old anthropomorphic argument for our universe. Can't be this way because it's so suited for us. Must have been created with us in mind. Mind presumes God.

I agree. Science observes and experiments and discovers. What it discovers it tells us about. It hasn't found any divine footprints yet. Hawking was just eliminating one more corner of the universe where believers hope those footprints are hiding.