Actually, these questions all bring up to "is there a form of intelligence dictating the universe ?" where the possible answers can be yes/no/whatever and I choose "whatever". I just think we don't know what we are talking about, that we are arguying on something that is already unclear. Whether there is a force or not makes no difference, that's what I think. Things will still happen the way they are (god or not) and it's not even something to take in consideration.
Notice that the notion of God that is compared to a flying pink unicorn (or flying spaghetti monster) is maybe wrong. Sure God can be seen in a stupid way, but the notion of supreme intelligence that dictates the rules of our current universe is questionnable. And it's for sure something conceived only by humans (as most questions), but it is inspired by reality, and it's an extreme question. Atheists that claim there is no such force or God lacks of modesty, seriously, because you need to know what you're talking about. What is that God? And even the popular picture of God could reveal to be true, since we just don't know! All the possibilities are available (just as the pink unicorn...), though I don't believe so. Anyways.