Rainbows, and Gods End?

"Little clusters of children were here and there along the street. God only knew what they were seeing." - Vernor Vinge, from Rainbows End

Hm. God. I may be wrong, but this is one of the first references I have heard to Him throughout this whole book. Is that incidental? Where is that religious presence to which the American identity is so closely tied? He seems nowhere to be found. When pondering why, I couldn't think of anything but the most obvious answer: the people have not made room for Him. In my reading of Rainbows End, I've seen endless google searching, but not much soul searching. Plenty of <sm/> but no communication with the divine. These futurists can (essentially) create their own worlds, yet they walk through them without ever thinking of the Being that created the original. Why? Has technology become so all-consuming that people simply don't care? Have they become so distracted that they just don't feel Him anymore? Or has modern technology endowed them with such power that they can live without Him, acting as their own Gods and Goddesses?

I don't happen to believe that is possible, that replacement of God with technology. In fact, I know it not to be. What I can believe is that with sufficient resources, a bit of power-hunger, and some ego, society could easily fall into that pattern of thinking. What think ye, O expansive world of Google+?