(December 29, 2018 at 11:02 am)Bucky Ball Wrote: That assumes the default valid position is theism.
Not at all.
Both sides make claims. Everyone evaluates the claims based on the standards that he believes are best.
An atheist makes the claim: "there is insufficient evidence to believe in God." He believes this statement because of the evaluative premises which he believes are best. A believer hears that claim and evaluates it based on the evaluative premises he believes are best.
Granted, a lot of people have evaluative premises which are not very good. But everyone hears claims and then accepts or rejects them.