Atheism is a religion in the sense that
not watching football is a sport.
Atheism is a religion in the sense of a vandal who removes the rain tarp on a rainy afternoon before the game.
Every atheist has a good in mind, which is to say, a god he serves.
Arguing on principle, fundamental to the core of atheism, is the belief that God does not exist. In this case the atheist believes we have sufficient knowledge of all that is in the universe, regardless of the reality that we have very little knowledge of what is in the universe, or of what we believe is out there.
Additionally, I have spoken on several occasions with avowed atheist who believe somewhere in the universe there are advanced life forms to the human. In fact many believe this.
As God does not exist, it means we ultimately have faith that something came from nothing, (unless something always existed, which too requires belief or faith), and we believe the intricately precise and dependent order of life was the result of non-existence, extreme chaos, and disorder. This requires suspension of the 3ed law of motion, as if nothing existed, then nothing else could exist to react! If something did exist before the beginning which caused the “beginning,” (which is a physical contradiction) this would then require faith in an untestable theory that at some point after the “Big Bang,” or some other type of beginning, entropy must have been halted, so that the natural degradation of energy and matter could become more an more orderly. At the end of the day, this requires faith!
Since we now believe God does not exist, by default, we (or man) become the supreme arbiter of right and wrong.
Since man is no longer responsible or restrained by the notion of Gods rules, man gets to become the supreme authority of his own rules. As this belief has been the dominate political belief of the last century, it also means the morality and beliefs of humanist governments get to rule over society, as our rights to freedom are not inherent from God, but rather granted by the state.
At the end of the day, whatever one believes in, for the sake of this argument, God or man, it requires belief/faith.
At its core, belief (faith) in God would require caution and adherence to Gods authority, and sequential individual responsibility.
At its core, belief (faith) in man would require (and has required, as with 20th Century totalitarian Communism and Fascism), adherence to mans authority, or man subjected to man. As well, in this system, moral boundaries and those who espouse them become the hated enemy. Look at what is actually happening all around us today in society.
Both require belief (faith), and both elevate who they believe in to the place of authority and submission, and both give homage and celebrate their authority!
Incidently, to make things even more weird, besides atheism, there are some polytheistic religions in the world which also worship man, so atheism is not alone in this belief.
Atheism inherently requires and exorcises faith, elevates and worships man, and subjects man to men!
While the objects of worship are clearly different with different religions, whether legally recognized or not, atheism inherently possesses the exact tenants of a religion.