Atheists have a heavy load to bear: propositions of no prayer in schools; no silent time in schools; take 'In God we trust' off of coins; and so on.

'Non-theist' seems to be a less inflammatory term.

And 'bright'--oh, good heavens--really does imply there's that 'dullard' mentioned in one of the above posts.

For anyone who is interested, go take a look at the many non-theist or atheist v. theist threads on 'Straight Dope' (Internet site) if you're interested in reading how ordinary non-believers v. believers are debating numerous spiritual (or lack of) topics.