Little Hawk, I'm going by the idea that the natural world formed the way science has demonstrated - there was matter before there was life. Life is matter capable of self-replication; that took time to evolve. If atoms are "alive" then the word loses meaning, as does the word god if you want to say it's everything.
Meanwhile I am *not* safe as an atheist in my town in Central Virginia. Not that people will beat me up, but I have had parents refuse to let their kids play with mine because my family is non-theistic.
I am looking forward to the days like those in the Go God Go episodes of South Park, where one can snicker hee hee, you believe in a supernatural being!