What a nonbeliever will believe...

Will Wilkinson offers some sophistry to differentiate atheists' beliefs from those of believers, to a hallelujah chorus of comments.

Check this out:

To believe that something exists is to rely on it in your explanation of the world.

Say what? My explanation of the world does not rely on Will Wilkinson. Ergo he does not exist. I'd say the line needs work, and the context is no help.

To those of you who would say "there is no God" (the defining characteristic of atheists) - tell me how you would falsify that statement. Try to come up with something better than "Seeing the Cubs win a World Series".

That includes you, Will Wilkinson, if you exist. I need proof, dammit. Perhaps a burning bush? No, I'm sure I could explain it away. If I needed help, I'd just look in any of innumerable evolution apologies for ideas.

Non-falsifiable statements are not scientific statements. They fall in the realm of belief and faith. So ultimately atheists stand upon the same intellectual foundation the believers do, and have no basis for their near-universal intellectual smugness.