I don't really consider myself an atheist, if anything, I'll squeeze out the term "non-theist." In my life, and in the area I live (NY- NYC), you don't encounter much opposition to the lack of beliefs in the traditional Judeo-Christian culture.
In fact, I think I am more interested in religion. Watching Jesus Camp, the God Who Wasn't There, Bill Maher's show, George Carlin- I find the whole evangelistic culture interesting yet scary at the same time. I guess I've always felt like an observer, not really in either worlds.
To me, atheism as of late has not only been a rejection of mythical deities, but an identity based off of that rejection. Perhaps for some, this is necessary in order to combat rising opposition from peers and family. But it seems the atheist identity is the antithesis of theism. I don't think that needs to be. I guess I'm on the same page as Sam Harris with this; There are no anti-Zeus groups hanging around. There simply is a lack of belief in Zeus.
On the flip-side, I know that groups need to form, and often identities need to be made in order to rise up and collaborate. I wrote a little comment on a friend's blog about this, but the jist of what I'm thinking is: Although you need to form identity to collaborate, to group together, does it need to be the opposite of theism? I know we don't all do this, but I can't help but notice that we have developed our own beliefs and worldviews.
I can't easily talk about spirituality, religion or even experiments in consciousness without careful and delicate use of words, or else the discussion is dismissed with the rest of the lot. Are some of us just as fundamental in our own worldview as the evangelicals we so firmly oppose? In some circles, I was even mentioned as a troll and a fundie for merely bringing up meditation and Buddhism. For sure, no community will be perfect, and I find this website to be certainly more open minded, but as 'atheists' I think there are certain road blocks we're building that in the end will have to come down in the spirit of progression and understanding ourselves. What say you?