You may be reading the Bible wrong. Pete Enns says the Bible itself shows a better way

[marylandblue]

17. I don't think that's it at all.

They need a sense of the sacred or the sublime.

I think what really sets atheists apart is not that they are more rational or think more. Some may be, but my general observation of people is that almost all of us are much less rational than we think we are.

I think what makes atheists different is that they either have a weaker need for sacredness, or they fill that need elsewhere. If you were raised in a religion, it's likely you will feel the sacred there and never question it. If you don't feel it, you start to question it, and either end up in a different religion or become an atheist.

I can tell you that I need a sense of the sacred and sublime, and I can get it through religious practice and study even though I don't believe. I also get it by looking up at the stars or at astronomical photographs. So I can go either way.