Isn't it amazing these days that some people still have to ask that?
Okay, I'll put it in a nutshell. An atheist is a person who does not believe in any gods. Period. Nothing more, nothing less.
An atheist is not a person who just "doesn't believe in God". God (captial "G") is the Judeo-Christian deity...and is one of many that atheists don't worship. Although that assumption is still basically correct...
Atheists do not hate God. We simply believe out of logic that there isn't one. This is hard for many theists (people who do believe in a god) to understand...they've worshipped deities all of their lives, so it's hard to comprehend that someone could live without one. Well, we do.
Similarly, atheists do not hate those who do believe in a god. Some of us may envy the theists for the amount of comfort their religions bring them, but many more (including myself) get by fine without one. In fact, I seem to handle the death of someone close to me better than any theist I know. I don't know why, but I do.
Do atheists turn to God when faced with danger? No. We don't believe in one, remember? See my article on this subject, entitled "Oh Lordy".
Are atheists after converts? No, at least none of the ones I've heard of. I think it would be great it we ended all religion, but I know it would be hard for many to cope without it. I think a person's belief should be his own, and as long as he doesn't force it on me, more power to him.
And I can assure you, atheists are not who they are because of a horrible event in their lives. While personally I think this is proof that there isn't a god (or at least a loving one), this is not the reason I don't believe in any of them.
Atheists do not believe in a devil. So you can get those "Atheist = Satanist" thoughts out of your head now.
Not all atheists are communists. In fact, most aren't. I think communism is a shitty form of government. Some athiests are in fact quite patriotic...just like people of any theological position.
We're not necessarily liberals. For instance, while I'm mostly liberal in my views, I lean toward the right side in certain issues (gun control, for example).
We don't worship science or Darwin.
We don't secretly "know" that certain gods exist.
We aren't sex perverts (maybe some are, but it has nothing to do with their atheism).
And finally, we don't care if you want to pray for us, just don't bother rubbing it in our faces.