I just had to say something about this line from someone elses comment

"and it would be nice to have the answer of an intelligent and mature athiest who probably understands that the existance of a God is a possibility at least"

if you are an atheist then you deny god period. There are no possibilities of a god in any way shape or form....if you think otherwise maybe you should consider agnostic or becoming religious..there is no way to have your cake and eat it to when it comes to believing in god and being an atheist.

I disagree, but our disagreement is simply one of vocabulary. What you describe is "strong" atheism, but not all atheists are strong atheists. One can be an atheist (in the sense of being a person without religion) without explicitly saying that there are no deities. In fact, I prefer that philosophy myself.

Think about it this way. I don't think that there is multi-cellular life on Mars, and although I agree that there is a possibility, the odds are looking bad. So, given this, do you think that I should state my opinion as, "I deny that there is life on Mars"? Of course not -- what sense would that make? Do I think that there is no multi-cellular life on Mars? Well, until I see evidence otherwise, yes. The scientific evidence is mounting in that direction, and there is enough of it to make a tentative conclusion, if not a definitive one.

I don't think there is anything wrong with thinking in this way, and I don't see any reason I should grant special status to the possibility of a deity, causing me to use special terms and a special label for myself because I feel about God the same way I feel about anything else I don't think exists. Would I say that there is a possibility God exists? Sure. Would I say that there is a much greater possibility that Mars once was teeming with life? Heck yes.

And thanks for the cake.