If they wanna be nonbelievers, I don't care, that's up to them, but it's just as much of a stretch to be an atheist as it is to believe in God, because there's no explanation for how the planet got here, and Hawkings doesn't have it.
Notes from Wikiquote
responding to question to BillOReilly.com by Eric of Los Angeles, "What are your thoughts on Stephen Hawking's assertion that science can explain everything without the need for a deity?"