On the contrary, religion is a conscious choice to delude oneself into believing the impossible. Atheism is acceptance of reality for what it is.
No, it isn't. Atheism is a belief based on an absolute absence of information. It is nor more based in reality than theism. It is, in fact, just the other side of the "god" coin.
Religions see things that aren't there. Atheists simply acknowledge that what isn't there - isn't there. It isn't a belief. It is a disbelief in the supernatural.
Of course it is a belief. You have evidence that God isn't there? I would love to see it. If God were there, what evidence would you expect to find and what is the basis of that expectation? If you have no evidence, then the only thing your position can be is belief.
The default setting is atheism/disbelief. Then someone comes along and claims evidence for god. That evidence must, above all, pass the smell test, but also be repeatable, and testable. Otherwise, there is no reason to believe. But the existence of god cannot be tested, cannot be repeated, cannot be falsified. Faith is a belief in something not in evidence. That is why it is called faith, dude. You can't prove it, so you simply take it on faith. On the other hand, I don't take anything on faith. I don't have to prove that your god doesn't exist. You must prove that it does. Good luck with that.
"Revelation is necessarily limited to the first communication-- after that it is only an account of something which that person says was a revelation made to him; and though he may find himself obliged to believe it, it can not be incumbent on me to believe it in the same manner; for it was not a revelation made to ME, and I have only his word for it that it was made to him."
- Thomas Paine,
The Age of Reason
