Non-belief is not a belief.

For the record, I am a staunch Atheist.

One of the frustrations I have in dealing with people of faith are their claims that my atheism is a belief as much as their faith is.

They are in error. It is not a question of belief, it's a question of non-belief. I concede that I have no proof that God is non-existent, in much the same way that followers of religion have no proof that God does exist and I am an Atheist because I think that in the absence of proof it is foolish to believe otherwise.

By way of example: with the absence of proof, who in their right mind believes in unicorns anymore?

The frustration increases when told I am unable to prove that god does not exist. This line of reasoning is distressing since the burden of proof does not fall to me. Instead it falls to the person making the statement of belief. If I were to believe that aliens in fact created life on earth, the burden of proof would fall to me to back up that theory rather than leave the onus on others to prove me wrong. As mentioned above, I have no belief, only the refusal to share in an unproven one.

There are no unicorns. There is no god. Prove me wrong.