You know, watching this debate there are two things that I've found amusing. One is that the point which is generating the most argument here (whether atheism is a "belief" or not) is the one that your friend was taking as a default position. At least to me, saying that atheist have "courage of their conviction" implies a certain degree of belief beyond simple factual information.

The second is how many people have gotten up in arms over the idea that certain flavors of atheism may be operating on an unsupported base asumption (aka a belief). I think part of that is because many people who view themselves as atheists view themselves as being extremely logical, and reaching that position through strict logic, so the statement that they are operating on a belief is disturbing to them.

I don't necessarially agree that all those who call themselves atheist are operating on a belief. I think there are different flavors, and some who may call themselves atheists may be more "agnostic with atheist leanings" or "it doesn't matter anyway." But I definitely know some who do seem to be operating just as much on belief as some of the theists I know.