“‘Isn't atheism just another religion?’ No, it isn't. Atheism has no creeds, rituals, holy book, absolute moral code, origin myth, sacred spaces or shrines. It has no sin, divine judgment, forbidden words, prayer, worship, prophecy, group privileges, or anointed ‘holy’ leaders. Atheists don't believe in a transcendent world or supernatural afterlife. Most important, there is no orthodoxy in atheism.”
— Dan Barker
Although with many words Dan covered this, it is shorter to note: Atheist have no adherence to "Faith" (belief without evidence) based claims to support supernatural (untestable claims).
I do not label myself as either an atheist, a non-atheist, a theist, or an agnostic. IMO these labels mean very little and they detract from the stark truth of the human condition: We are abysmally ignorant. The implications of existence as a conscious being are absolutely enormously staggering and there is no meaningful in-depth understanding.
You can hide using such self-deceiving ploys as religious dogma, scientism, reductionism, materialism, physicalism, etc. Then you can argue over which method of hiding is the correct one. In the final analysis all the methods are equally bogus.
IMO It is reasonable to discuss and speculate about metaphysical ideas, but in the end, Ultimate Reality is a mystery.