Jeff, Atheism is not a religion, it's the absence of religion. That would be like saying nudism is just another form of clothing, it's not, it's no clothes. Atheism is no religion. For someone to say atheism is a religion only shows they really don't understand the term.

The term “atheist” (‘a’ theist) means non-theist. When an ‘a’ is placed in front of a word it means “non” or “not.” So if you are not a theist, then you are a non-theist … or said another way you are an atheist. Just as we use the term “asymmetrical” to describe something that is not symmetrical or non-symmetrical, the same is true of atheism. Something is either symmetrical or it isn’t. If it isn’t, then we say it’s asymmetrical. By adding the ‘a’ we are saying it is not a symmetrical shape. We know nothing more about this shape, just that it’s not symmetrical. It could be a square, triangle, octagon, rectangle or any countless number of shapes, but it’s not symmetrical. This is all we know based on the definition we were given. We do not have enough information to determine what it is, just what it is not.