first off, just because Buffett praised ETFs, it does not mean he somehow "tacitly said that it takes faith to argue that he can beat the market". No, he praised ETFs as an alternative to those who want to invest but do not want to do the hard work of identifying good companies to invest in. 
And second, just because he said in the past that he does not pay dividends, it does not follow that he should never change that policy, or even worse yet: stick to it just because he said it. the unique and unforeseen circumstances that Berkshire is in now, calls for the unique statment he made about the possiblity of paying dividends.