Asserting that something doesn't exist, when there's no compelling evidence that thing exists, is arguably the antithesis of a factual assertion. Claiming that

Asserting that something doesn't exist, when there's no compelling evidence that thing exists, is arguably the antithesis of a factual assertion. Claiming that god doesn't exist isn't asserting a greater truth about the nature of the universe, it's the linguistic cancelation of an unsupported, invented concept. Without the concept of god in place first, "God doesn't exist", doesn't exist, it doesn't have to. That is to say, in practical terms, consciously choosing to not believe in something is the same as not having any concept of that thing to begin with.