Something CT made me think....
What proof do nonbelievers (to whom this question is appropriate) want for god?
Yeah, we hear this quite a bit. It depends on the God. There are about 4-5000 gods in human history and each have their own description, and as such has its own level of what evidence would be necessary to move it from fiction to probable. Oddly the more a theists defines and describes their God the more it tends to be unlikely to exist. They essentially define their god out of probability, especially when facts contradict what they claim. Being vague helps retain some possibility, but that is less that is relevant to judge. Let's not forget the the logical default is that all claims are by default UNTRUE, so there is a burden to demonstrate a claim is true to some degree that a rational mind can deem it probable.
The member Trailblazer recently defended her belief that her idea of God exists, but she claimed God created all things, and has total awareness of what it creates, but isn't responsible for cancers existing. This is a contradiction that can't be reconciled, so she invalidated her own claim. Lose lips sinks ships.
Theists are at a serious disadvantage to openly debate their beliefs. They have no facts. No credible evidence. And the claims tend to be contrary to what we understand of reality. Being vague and clever is their only hope to survive debate.
Why wouldn't proof be how it chances a person's life and not something explained objectively?
Because there are better explanations than a supernatural. Plus, if a supernatural is so God-damned concerned for us why doesn't it make our lives better since it's so God-damned smart, right? Is a god really so clueless about what makes life hard for people that it doesn't;t get it until people hit hard times and begs for something better? Guess what, cancer patients are such people, yet many don't get the miracle they deserve.
If something changed your life profoundly, would you use logic to verify your experiences, or?
Things change for the better when a person decides to make their life better. Some need to assign their own authority over to a "higher power" proxy because the don't respect themselves enough to commit. they might work harder for their God than they will for their self. In psychology the human mind has many flaws, and can be very confused and lost in fear and bad pattens of behavior. It's not unusual to resort to tricking the mind to get past self-destructive behavior.
I'm an atheist and by background is psychology. I prefer hard, blunt head on reality in life. But if a person is using religion to move past some seriously harmful behaviors i don't have a problem with it.