On MSNBC’s Imus simulcast yesterday, Andy Rooney clearly was pitching his God-denying tent at Camp Christopher Hitchens. When asked about the Gibson film, he said, “No, I haven’t. I don’t plan to see it. I mean, I don’t want to pay nine dollars just for a few laughs.”

Don Imus also asked if he was an atheist, to which he replied: “You know, Bertrand Russell had a great line years ago — I read it once and never got over it. Bertrand Russell said, one of the brightest person [sic] who ever, ever lived on this earth, said, ‘It’s foolish to say there is no God, but it’s foolish to say there is a God, too. We don’t know.’ And I’ll go with Bertrand Russell. I mean, it’s just absurd to invent God to unburden our problems on him, and on the other hand, there are so many questions that are unanswered that, you know, we’re looking for some solution to it and we have invented God.”

He added: “I think the real legitimate question about religion is whether or not it can be a force for good, even though it can’t be defended, you know, historically, logically, or scientifically. I don’t think so, but it is possible that religion has done so many bad things and is the source of so much evil in the world and yet there are people who are led to a better life because of it, so I suppose you could say that it has been good, even though you can’t defend it intellectually.”