DieRuhe: Actually I think atheists do have a faith - that "God" doesn't exist. They might not call it "faith", but nonetheless. Faiths are based on beliefs, and every single person alive has beliefs.
pimpmonkey2382: No it's not faith, because we don't claim something to exist, the religious do. It's on them to prove that it does.
Well, I don't think beliefs can be proven, anyway. I mean, I get it; everyone who says "I believe in God" cannot actually
prove it (even if they try by saying "The Bible says so"). It is simply what they
believe to be so. Beliefs are not facts, and even "facts" can change over time. I think people tend to misuse/misunderstand the word "belief" anyway; they want to cement it in solidity when it's more like a river.
But saying "If they believe it, then they must prove it" works both ways, in my opinion. It's no different than someone saying "You don't believe. Prove
that."
Interesting that the onus is generally on someone professing a belief in favor of something who must then "prove" it, whereas "not believing" seems to be given a free pass - ie, "I don't believe you on (X), but I have no obligation to tell you why; I just don't." So why isn't that response good enough for the "other side"?
I guess I just don't understand - "I don't believe you. Prove it." If one doesn't believe in something, who even cares why the other person thinks what they think? For the sake of argument?