Atheists axiomatically believe in abiogenesis.
Creationists believe that an external force "created life"
There is as much proof for one, as there is for the other; which is to say NONE.
Atheism, therefore, is just as much based on faith as Creationism. (As it stands now)
So, atheism is a religion. In that it is a belief system that has no proof to support it.
Taken in small increments, yes, there is as much proof for one as another. Looking at things wholistically, there is nothing supporting abiogenesis. Not even abiogenesis supports itself, for it is THE ever-changing theory.
Whenever there is something that seems to suggest it's failure, it simply extends the timeline and *poof* suddenly the earth is another billion years old and like magic people believe it is still viable. Why, just this month popular mechanics trumpeted another extension (which I said was coming a couple months ago). New contrary data *poof* add more years. Like clockwork, when interest dies out and skepticism peaks, more marketing...
Meanwhile the timeline for creation hasn't budged. Hasn't been disproven, and the evidence is all around us. Every second of every day.
I get why city folks don't believe it. Surrounded by concrete, crime, propaganda, and waste products, it makes sense to them. They have no hope and no desire to understand that this had to be put together in a very short period for it all to continue existing. To someone for whom everything is artifical, artifice is the answer. It has to be to go on living in it.
The worship of technology and fantasy over reality is just one of the symptoms.