I would like to make a brief statement about the claim that atheism requires faith and is in itself a religion (which I suppose is an attempt to delegitimize atheism in some way). You can see that to "expect" something is not the the same as having "faith" in something. You can expect a treatment for an illness to be developed or a mysterious question to be eventually explained if it is reasonable or probable (the illness being studied by people that have previously developed treatment for similar illness or by observing advances in the field of that illness, or by proven creative brilliant minds analyzing whatever mystery). Faith is expectation without a call for reason or probability and based solely on trust. There is a difference there. An atheist and anyone else for that matter can resonably expect something will eventually happen based on probability and previous occurance without it being termed "faith".
faith
2 a (1) : belief and trust in and loyalty to God (2) : belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion b (1) : firm belief in something for which there is no proof (2) : complete trust
3 : something that is believed especially with strong conviction; especially : a system of religious beliefs.
expect
2 : to anticipate or look forward to the coming or occurrence of
3 : suppose, think
4 a : to consider probable or certain.
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