Posted: Feb 26, 2010 5:24 pm
He's using religion as a crutch, no differently than the others, only he's quieter about it.
I disagree - in fact, I think the exact opposite: by being so open and honest and up-front about his reason for belief (that it's comforting, regardless of the fact that not only is there no evidence for it, if anything all the evidence is against it), he's being very much the opposite of quiet. I think Gardner's attitude is quite widely shared; I suspect, but can't prove, that a great many people adhere to theistic belief for precisely this reason, but very few people will be so honest as to say that their only motivation for believing in God is that it's emotionally comforting even though all the logical and rational arguments are against it. He deserves credit for his candour, at least.