I suspect this is pure spin doctoring and poppycock. As someone who was raised Catholic and was an altar boy, there is for the thoughtful atheist, absolutely no shame in having an emotional reaction to the words, the pageantry, and the music of the religion of your youth. I might get the "heebeejeebies" in a creaky old house, but this doesn't mean I will start making political and investment decisions on the basis of the existence of ghosts.
Also, there is nothing wrong with speaking to other people in the philosophical language they understand. As a humanist, I believe in "walking a mile" in your shoes, even if you are a 1st world middle-class Christian. You are still definitely human, after all.