Saying you are an atheist says you hold no belief in gods. Full Stop! It sounds to me like you want it to mean more than that. It doesn't.
I will admit to all kinds of things, and in my defence the OP said the same thing as to what an atheist might believe, but it is pretty obvious that most people will have differing ideas as to what any religion is about and I would say some have little or no knowledge when declaring themselves to be atheists, (this was in my mind too when I wrote the OP because I had direct knowledge of this).
However, to end on a positive note, here are some views on life from a much loved man called Terry Wogan, who appeared on BBC radio, (and later TV) for many years, who did declare he hadn't got a faith in God. He'd been raised and taught at a strict college in Dublin, though never abused I believe, (and had only good warm words to say about the priest there as far as I can recall).
Terry Wogan on modern life in the UK:
"A listener, obviously at the end of his tether, notes that council tax re-valuers want to charge us more if we live in a 'nice' area, which surely ought to mean discounts for those of us who live in a 'rough' area, as this unfortunate obviously does: 'We have a huge council house in our street. The extended family is run by a woman with a pack of dogs. Her car isn't taxed or insured; it doesn't even have a number plate, but the police do nothing about it. Her grumpy old man is famous for upsetting foreigners with racist comments. A local shopkeeper blames him for ordering the murder of his son's girlfriend, but nothing has been proved. Two of the kids have broken marriages, and two grandsons are meant to be in the Army, but are always out at nightclubs. The family's odd antics are forever in the papers. They're out of control. Who'd want to live near Windsor Castle?'
Meanwhile, Elfin Safety continues to bemuse: an elderly gentleman, upon leaving hospital, was issued with a stool on which to rest a sore leg. The little stool carried a warning: 'Do not attempt to use this until the clinician has demonstrated the correct method.' The old man's family took a chance, and stood the stool upright on its legs. Let's hope they don't regret such a foolhardy action.
Recently, a friend's mother-in-law, aged 91, fell and broke her pelvis, which caused her a few problems ... one of which was the arrival of the regulation free-gift commode. She was cheered enormously by the warning: 'This item is not intended to be used as a seat and should not be used before being demonstrated by a trained health professional.' Now, that's a job and a half ... imagine the strain of demonstrating half a dozen of those a day."
