Because there's a huge difference between not knowing everything and not knowing anything at all. DUH!
no, one cannot. not unless one professes to believe that one has mastered all the laws in the universe. and it's zeus.
perhaps, but not in this context. you cannot say something does not exist, if there is a possibility that it exists in a place or manner in which you have no concept of. duh back at you.
Should the multiverse hypothesis prove true, and their number is infinite, then it is certain that Santa Claus and Zeus exist.
while i personally do have share the belief that santa exists, this example is precisely what i'm talking about.
ever read his book? besides believers point to all kinds of stories of god showing himself and doing amazing things 2000+ years ago before the age of video cameras. why do you suppose this god stopped showing himself now that we have ways of verifying his existence?
Imagine Ricter & Free thinker were in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. Ricter leaves New Orleans; Free Thinker decides to tough it out. Ricter is relieved because of the warnings. Free Thinker's wife gets crushed by a tree. Can we assume Free Thinker would blame a God who doesn't exist?