Science does not embrace the unknown,
If it didn't it would discover absolutely nothing of any value.
Science does not treat the unknown as an enemy. That's how a colonizer sees the world - not a scientist.
it is not “fetishizing something’s non-existence,”
Really? There is absolutely nothing else to atheism, is there? You try to conflate science with atheism - but you fail abysmally because there is absolutely nothing about the scientific method that is incompatible with any religion anywhere.
To try and "substitute" religion with "science" is anti-scientific because science is not religion. I'm starting to get the idea that a lot of atheists don't have a very good grip on what the scientific method actually entails.
Atheism is the default state of humanity
LOL! And your proof of this is what?
Where is your scientific method now? Did you forget it in your other lab-coat, perhaps?
Yes, I do have religious family members.
So you think the only reason your family members are religious is to opress transgender folks?
None of them are particularly technically minded,
What the hell does "technically minded" mean? Do they not know how to turn on a blender, perhaps?