The bitter irony in what Americans call "atheism" is that it is actually the single most evangelical religion in the country. Even moreso than Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses and Scientology. Belief that there is no god is still belief.
You're confusing "atheism", which is a lack of belief, with "gnosticism", which is a confirmed belief. Two different things. The uneducated an unenlightened often make such mistakes.
