Atheists vary so much in belief - simply because Atheism is not a religion. It is no more a religion than not collecting stamps is a hobby. There is no Pope of Atheism - if Dawkins, Harris or Hitchens says something dumb, we don't all have to agree with it.

Peter Singer is an Atheist. Josef Stalin was an Atheist. The former is in pursuit of the most ethical life you can live. The former, a mass-murdering fuckwad.

It especially bothers me when we are all described as believing in nothing. No one does that - not even Nihilists! Nihilists just believe there is no meaning in anything. Even nihilists vary in degrees on the nothingness of meaning. There are Atheists who reject Nihilism, and see meaning without a god. Meaning and ethics have nothing to do with a god . There is no monopoly on ethics among theists.