I've not seen the show: As I figure it, so long as it's not a demonization of atheists (and the articles suggest the House character is no demonization) it's good for us. We don't have to show up as "the good guys", we just have to be there, out where we're seen on a regular basis - become part of the "norm".

So long as any group is some shadowy "them", folks will believe whatever they hear about that group. If they see examples of that group regularly, it's far harder to demonize the group.

I know a few cocky pricks that happen to be atheists and a lot more that happen to be Christian. I agree, cocky pricks, Christians, and atheists can be anyone you meet.

OMG I LOVEEEE HOUSE!!

The way I see the show is that all the characters (but of course, most notably House) say what is on their minds - and rather bluntly, at that. In a real professional setting, we would perhaps be more cautious or selective in word-choice because we are trying to preserve relationships and avoid burning bridges; but on the show, the characters are not afraid to speak their own opinions.

I think this carries over into the subject of atheism, because I would guess that many of us here at RRS are forced to conduct ourselves in a similar manner. We accept or go along with the beliefs of others, and avoid saying anything negative about someone's religious beliefs, because we want to avoid family rifts and workplace tensions, and we are afraid of closing doors. But all the while our heads are screaming, "This is BS!"

Now House is not about religion, and I don't think it was intended to act as a metaphor for religion. But certainly the parallel is there; it sort of portrays what could happen if we just let loose and pointed out the faults in the doctrines of others. The thing is, despite House's abruptness with his coworkers and patients, the hospital is a better place because of it; and maybe similarly, the world could be a better place if atheists were to act the same. I've probably zoomed too far out with the macro-lens there, but it is interesting food for thought.

I think House is a good representation of atheists. (I'd like to go off on a tangent for a moment, though, and note that House never actually admits to the fact that he is an atheist - at least from what i remember - though his personal philosophy and the way he conducts himself seem to make it clear. I think maybe the writers avoided explicitly stating the fact, because they didn't want his atheism to become the central point of the show?) He is someone who is guided by knowledge, as well as logical and rational thought, when diagnosing and treating patients. There are no miracle cures - just application of logic and current knowledge. I think his thought process can serve as a model for all of us, because there is always a correct answer, and it doesn't take pandering to gods to reach it. 
 

I love the show and I adore his sarcasm.  It makes people think... and by people I mean both the patients (actors) and the audience. 

I would disagree with the second articles insinuation that he's agnostic though... although I personally think that 'being an atheist requires faith' line to be a load of crap.

I am not sure if he has said, "I am an Atheist" but he has most assuredly demonstrated his feelings on irrationality, the irrationality of religion, and how preposterous the notion of a personal God is. Here are a few of the quotes taken from these articles I listed in the OP.

Some of House's quotes from various shows:

If you talk to God you're religious. If God talks to you, you're psychotic.

You can have all the faith you want in spirits, and the afterlife, and heaven and hell, but when it comes to this world, don't be an idiot. Cause you can tell me you put your faith in God to put you through the day, but when it comes time to cross the road, I know you look both ways.

She has God inside her. It would have been easier to deal with a tumor.

Dr. Cameron (Jennifer Morrison): Do you have to be religious to believe a fetus is a life?
House MD (Hugh Laurie): There seems to be a correlation.

Are you ... comparing me to God? I mean, that's great, but just so you know, I've never made a tree.

So, you're a faith healer. Or is that a pejorative? Do you prefer something like "divine health management"?

Isn't it interesting... religious behavior is so close to being crazy that we can't tell them apart.

 

While pondering the ecstasy of his "97 Seconds" clinic patient who wanted to briefly die again for another taste of the afterlife, House faced the calm of his paralyzed patient welcoming death as a release from his restricted, painful life. "Don't be an idiot. There is no after, there's just this," was House's coldly rational response.

Wilson: You can't let a dying man take solace in his beliefs?

House: His beliefs are stupid. ... He shouldn't be making a decision based on a lie. Misery is better than nothing.

Wilson: You don't know there's nothing. You haven't been there.

House: Oh god, I'm tired of that argument. I don't have to go to Detroit to know that it smells.

Wilson: Yes, Detroit, the afterlife, same thing.

After unintentionally goading his friend into a pseudo-empirical test, Wilson was distraught at what that reveals about House's state of mind. "Maybe you didn't want to die, but you didn't care if you lived," he chastised. That line echoes the season two finale "No Reason," written by David Shore and Lawrence Kaplow:

Moriarty: You don’t care whether you live or die?

House: I care because I live. I can’t care if I’m dead.

He ranted about our tendency to fill ignorance with religion and resist rational argument:

"You know, I get it if people were just looking for a way to fill the holes. But they want the holes. They want to live in the holes, and they go nuts when someone else pours dirt in their holes. Climb out of your holes, people!"

Or, as he put it less dramatically this season in Egan and Leonard Dick's "The Right Stuff": "Rational arguments don't usually work on religious people. Otherwise there would be no religious people."

Wilson questions whether the visions House had while clinically dead were real.

House: Define real. They were real experiences. What they meant? Personally, I choose to believe that the white light people sometimes see, the visions this patient saw, they’re all just chemical reactions that take place when the brain shuts down.

Foreman: You choose to believe that?

House: There’s no conclusive science. My choice has no practical relevance to my life. I choose the outcome I find more comforting.

Cameron: You find it more comforting to believe that this is it?

House: I find it more comforting to believe that this isn’t simply a test.