Good one, it highlight so much of what is wrong with the public use of statistics. The only thing that would have made it better would be to have one more panel of some random member of the general public saying "I eat tons of green jelly beans, and I never get acne, science must be wrong." I think the answer's much simpler. The religious audience is much larger than the scientific one. Packaging your book to appeal to religious folk earns you an extra set of readers at the expense of nothing. I think it's quite possible that all these book publishers are ramming this down the author's throats, who themselves may or may not care. "That's all well and good Dr. Hawking, but let me ask you something? Have you ever marketed a book? Do you know what it takes to succeed in this economy? Did you know science books were down 34.6% in 2009, and religion books are up 6%?" "Umm, no." "That's right, doc, here's a chalkboard, you just go ahead and draw on it, ok? I don't tell you how to draw on a chalkboard and you don't tell me how to sell books. Does that sound like a good deal to you?" By my completely unqualified judgement I'd say this is the case with most Athiests I know, whom tend to speak and act evangelistic about this belief which is important to them. It doesn't have to be this way; There are great examples