Übergeek 바둑이: Artful Dodger:

Oi yoi yo... this seems a bit of a rabbit trail but I'll walk the path just a bit. It would actually be an interesting discussion between you as an atheist and me as a theist. But it's a huge topic to say the least so I won't tackle it here. But just a few comments.

"God exists" Isn't that an a-priori statement too?"

Yes

" After all, there is no CONCRETE and SCIENTIFIC proof of the existence of God."

But there are proofs. Atheists just reject them (not all atheists do however - as I know former atheists who no longer refused to accept the evidence presented to them).

" Just because it says so in a book it does not make it true."

Nor does it make it false.

"Neither does a lot of people believing it."

A fair point. The same can be said of many things. Believing something to be true doesn't make it true anymore than believing something false would make it so.

" Faith is not proof, if anything, faith is belief in the ABSENCE of proof."

Skepticism isn't proof either. So at best you can say you don't know if there is a God. An honest atheist should really loose the label and just call him/herself an agnostic. You don't know and you can't know. Not empirically.

"Just as you can question the atheist for believing things "a priori" so can all of religion be questioned, because other than your personal belief there is no proof of the existence of God."

Here's where you lose me. We are discussing the existence of an absolute standard. I say that if you think one exists, you have to have a basis for that belief. My claim is that an absolute standard of right and wrong exist apart from anything you or I think, feel, or believe. You likely agree with most of these absolute standards and my question is simple: for the atheist - based on what.

As you may have answered this further in your post (which I'll address later) there may be no need to readdress it here.