in the matter of "is there such a thing as an atheist?",,i have to say "yes i think there is"(not to bicker with different levels of what some would say is actually an atheist,i suppose they have their own doctrine as well as there are different ideas of Christianity),,,
across my life Ive seen many who said they were atheist and did not believe in any type of god. i noticed if i watched them some would say this but if you watched them over a period of time they lived among the other people as if they would be held accountable at some time,to some higher creator.
I worked with a member of "a" family(i say "a" because Ive mentioned a member of the same family in another post but I'm trying to not give their personal imfo),,,this family(i worked with one of their family members) were taught by i think by the grand-parents before them(?) that is the entire family claimed to be atheist.
after watching this family over years i believe they were "atheist",that is their actions toward one another and to others(in public) were as if they had no remorse for their actions. i ask the one i worked with different questions about this as time went on and was told by him and other family members that to them there is no judgment that i "thought that way because i believed in god,and that since they did not they think and live their life according to the way they believed",,
over the years one of their sons robbed a bank,was caught,served his time in prison,was paroled and robbed another bank and is still in prison. his parents response was there is only this one life and so they encouraged their children to become wealthy(legal or illegal), they were only bothered that he got caught.
the family separated and the other son lived with her,he went to work one day and when he went home his mother had put his clothes in a pile in the living-room and pawned all his belongings(t.v.,stereo,computer,furniture ect.) and left and has never been seen since. this was the question i ask was regarding her actions toward her own children,her father and mother was who gave the answer to me,they said when we butcher a chicken we don't think we will ever see it again or be held responsible for eating it. the same they said is the way they live they thought when they die it was the absolute end of them so to them all is fare game.
i learned the hard way to keep my personal belongings away from them(at work),,at first i invited them to my house(being christian i thought i could have an impact),learned i need to lock my garage and only sit in lawn chairs out side instead,then finally stopped inviting them. the husband(the one i worked with) said to me "you don't invite us over any more",,i told him maybe sometimes i would but was busy,,he grinned and said "no,you wanted to tell us about Christianity and we told you about atheism"