Atheism's Definition - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

[Ben Davis]

Read this carefully: I'm not confusing knowledge and belief.

I said 'conflating' not 'confusing'. And yes you are. I'm not letting you off the hook with this one.

In line with the most widely held views in epistemology, I take knowledge to be merely a subcategory of belief, namely, knowledge is "justified, true belief". If a belief is thus both true and rationally warranted, it counts as knowledge.

...Finally! You clearly understand the attributes of the definitions so why are you not prepared to accept the different applications? Here's the thing: the differences between knowledge and belief are not 'mere', they're substantial. Subjects that qualify as beliefs do not necessarily qualify as knowledge, they must meet the additional criteria of 'demonstrability' (i.e. the practical test which meets the standards of 'truth' and 'rational warranty'). Those additional criteria set 'knowledge' apart from 'belief' in a practical context and mean that subjects meeting the discreet definitions behave differently. Hence the need for different uses of the words.

Thus when you are asked "Does God exist?" It doesn't matter whether you say "I know God exists" or "I believe God exists". The difference is merely a question of epistemology.

Once again, with the 'mere'. This is misdirection. It's not just a question of epistemology, that's a useless oversimplification; there's also the matter of practical applicability. It matters entirely whether you say 'I believe...' or 'I know...' because the difference is 'demonstrability'. That has real-world applications which must be recognised and not dismissed by claims of 'mere epistemology'.

On the question of metaphysics, which is what the existence of God is actually about, either answer takes the same metaphysical view.

The existence of god is not just about metaphysics to the majority who practice a variety of religions, worldwide. Most gods are claimed to be 'interventionists', that is to say they make practical, real-world differences to the lives of their believers. That's why claims of belief and knowledge must be treated differently and that's reflected in the linguistic use.