Why does the believer in God's existence have the burden of proof?

[LuisDantas]

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It makes sense the same way looking thru a telescope makes sense:

If you want to know X - see Jupiter's moons, then you must do Y - look through a telescope.
If you want to know X - God, God's attributes, then you must do Y - look through the "lenses" provided by the various traditions.

I think you lost me here. Unless you are working under a very rare understanding of what the matters involved are, your metaphor brokes down right at "if you want".

I will let alone the matter of "the various traditions", since it relies on a homogeneity that is unlikely to ever exist outside of radical sci-fi scenarios.

 

[steveb1]

I think you lost me here. Unless you are working under a very rare understanding of what the matters involved are, your metaphor brokes down right at "if you want".

I will let alone the matter of "the various traditions", since it relies on a homogeneity that is unlikely to ever exist outside of radical sci-fi scenarios.

Suit yourself.

 

[LuisDantas]

I will. Among other reasons, because there is really no alternative.

 

[Nakosis]

If I could reply for someone else.. I have a friend who refuses to be called an atheist, but "kinda" believes in god..
Mostly for the Pascall's Wager reason.. I consider him an agnostic theist..

After thinking about it, I see how this might fit for some Christian folks as well. It is as I suppose others have said, there is a lot of grey area in both knowledge and belief.

 

[Fraleyight]

Most Deists are Agnostic Theists.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

I'm not saying that an individual could not be half way between atheism and agnosticism, or that an individual could not be halfway between agnosticism and theism but there's a spectrum on one extreme Atheism ( belief there is no God) at the other extreme Theism (belief that there is a God) and in the MIDDLE(not same as atheism as you say) is agnosticism ( no solid belief there is or isn't a God) Agnosticism is just as close to Theism as it is to atheism on the spectrum of belief.

An Atheist not only lacks belief in God, but has belief there is no God as well, this is not true of agnostics.

Agnostics can still be atheists or theists (e.g. "I can never really be sure, but something deep in my heart tells me that God exists").

Agnostic: someone who believes that the question of the existence of gods is unanswerable.

Implicit atheist: someone who has not accepted the assertion that at least one god exists.

Explicit weak atheist: someone who has rejected the assertion that at least one god exists.

Explicit strong atheist: someone who has accepted the assertion that no gods exist.

... and any of these positions can go along with a rejection of religion.