Compass bearing...

If atheism is a club, then it’s a club with no one in charge. There are no application forms, entry criteria or any kind of vetting procedure. Candidates are not required to take an oath of allegiance, kiss the papal ring, submit to a cold-water baptism or accept the seven articles of faith. There are no rules, or sanctions, or membership fees. Atheism is a direction, a compass bearing, not a destination. There is nothing which all atheists must believe, and, assuredly, no authority – human or divine – to whom they are obliged to defer.
     Though religious creeds are re-affirmed on a regular basis – during Friday prayers, the Jewish sabbath or Sunday service – atheists are bound by no schedule. They don’t have to keep reminding themselves, or anyone else, about their unbelief; a single affirmation, delivered to no one in particular, will suffice. Since the term ‘atheism’ exists only in relation – and opposition – to ‘theism’, atheists don’t have to keep revisiting the holy books, to bring to mind what they have renounced. I’m confident in suggesting that they have more constructive ways of spending their time, since almost any interest or activity will prove to be more life-affirming than getting lost down the rabbit hole of doctrinal complexity.