I didn't mind him as a persona they'd drag out every few years
  for some publicity thing and being somebody who worked with the
  severely handicapped (cerebral palsy mostly) when I was in my
  early 20s, I always had high respect for the people around him
  and for his own fortitude for hanging in there long after most
  would've died. I firmly believe his strong brain *is* keeping
  him going. So that part of his story, I respect the hell out of.
  But when he joined the New Atheist gang about 10 years ago,
  that's when my respect crumbled away. Now you're getting
  political. Bzzt. THEN he did this whole thing providing
  why-God-need-not-exist (some new style Steady State theory
  that's mathematical) and I was like, WTF is this. I'm agnostic
  but you're gonna do the "math proves no God" thing? Ugh. And the
  ahistorical stuff he... ok, I'll stop there. *ugh* - yeah, I
  lost respect for him.