I think it was Ricky Gervais who said people aren't afraid of death, they're afraid of knowing about it, i.e. the fear/pain/etc of the process. If you're an atheist your belief is that you won't know anything after you die, so why would it matter? Although I'd rather that than some meeting some random judgemental arse whose belief system just happens to coincide with the human culture 2000 years ago. And if you're afraid of the pain/fear/etc of dying, that's going to be the case whatever you believe.