bending over backwards

Richard DawkinsのThe God Delusionを読んでいます。
Perhaps there are some genuinely profound and meaningful questions that are forever beyond the reach of science. Maybe quantum theory is already knocking on the door of the un-fathomable. But if science cannot answer some ultimate question, what makes anybody think that religion can? I suspect that neither the Cambridge nor the Oxford astronomer really believed that theologians have any expertise that enables them to answer questions that are too deep for science. I suspect that both astronomers were, yet again, bending over backwards to be polite: theologians have nothing worthwhile to say about anything else; let's throw them a sop and let them worry away at a couple of questions that nobody can answer and maybe never will.
著者のRichard Dawkinsは "bend over backwards" が好みの表現のようで、あちらこちらでこの "bend over backwards" を使っています。辞書で意味を調べます。
・Collins Dictionary: to make a special effort, esp in order to please: he bends over backwards to accommodate his customers
・Wiktionary: (idiomatic, informal) To make a great effort; to take extraordinary care; to go to great lengths.: They bent over backwards to make sure everything was just right for the visit.
フィギュアスケータ、荒川静香のイナバウアーを思い出せば憶えられそうです。