Atheism isn't really a belief system
Even Dawkins (yes, him again) rates himself as a 6.9 on the 7-point believer-atheist scale. No-one can say there definitely isn't a god, but most atheists are as agnostic about the Christian god as they are with Thor or Zeus. To say definitively that there is no god would be a belief system: to say "show me some proof that your god exists before I'll believe in him" is nothing like a belief system.
( emvee cruor deo cruoris, Tue 6 Apr 2010, 12:18, 2 replies)

the best explanation of this I've heard is
"you believe in a Christian/Muslim/whatever god, right? well then, think of all the other gods from monotheistic and polytheistic religions you don't believe in. There must be thousands. Let's call it a thousand, for simplicities sake. You don't believe in 1000 gods. I just don't believe in 1001"
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Tue 6 Apr 2010, 12:35, closed)

Just because some atheists have said that doesn't mean all are in need of proof.
I guess I fall in to the atheist category. There are no gods. Any of them. I don't need proof, I don't believe in any of it thinking it all thought up long ago to explain things we didn't understand, control aspects that people wanted controlled and to make people feel less responsible and grown up.
( vix0r was not Matthew on, Tue 6 Apr 2010, 13:43, closed)

Though it pains me to say it
You can't rule out the possibility that one of them might be real. It's EXTREMELY unlikely, but Zeus could show up tomorrow and start throwing lightning around like it's candy floss. The chances of this happening are miniscule, microscopic, smaller than small and approaching zero at such an angle that you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference, but it's *just* possible that a god exists. To all extents and purposes we behave as if it's not, but there's still a lot we don't know about the universe and it's extremely arrogant to assume that we know everything.
( emvee cruor deo cruoris, Tue 6 Apr 2010, 15:51, closed)