Faith is the belief, so you can argue that athiests have faith that God doesn't exist, for sure. But it seems to me that religion is the organized rules, traditions, and rituals surrounding that faith. For example there are many different Christian religions, but they all centre around a faith in God and/or Jesus. It seems to me that the two things are distinct, and I don't think athiests have the sort of trappings that come with religion.

I was raised utterly without any sort of religion or faith whatsoever. There was never any talk of God in the house, and we never went to church. When I was in Grade One and the teacher read a Christmas story about Mary and Joseph, I asked one of the other kids who Mary and Joseph and Jesus were because I had never heard of them.

But when I grew up I chose to have faith, a belief, but chose not to be part of any religion. So the distinction is important to me. I believe in God, but my concept of him might be different from that held by others. And my idea of God is the sort of guy who wouldn't really care about ritual or tradition or going to church, so I don't feel the need to be part of any religion.

If pressed I describe myself as agnostic, because it's a quick word that gives people enough of an idea to leave me alone, but my actual beliefs are more complicated than that.