I think people may have a twisted view on religion. Religion in general is not evil, its what people do with it is evil. Almost 76% of the time religion is a peaceful. They practice and get together on a special day to just hang out and commune with each other. We go to barbecues, have a drink at the bar, have a good time being with family. We even do charity stuff(which athiests always seem to forget) we send money over to africa to feed the childrem, build schools in coutnries south of america, and lots of other things.
We are normal people, just have a little bit different views on how we got here than otheres. I dont want to sound rude here, but its best instead of claiming "god is an imaginary friend" tell them "Oh I dont believe god." Because it hurt our feelings when you say that. Sound cool? hey thanks for listening.