I dunno, Mrr. It is highly unlike me to admit defeat in a debate, but I may have to, in this situation - to a point.
I wish I had time to nuance my response a little more carefully, but I made the mistake of volunteering to work this week, so I suppose I'd better head off and do it.
Nonetheless, I'd like to make a few points. I think it's safe to say that atheism is not a belief system, in and of itself. It is a word that describes a variety of belief systems that do not believe in a God. Secular humanism is a belief system that I think can be used to describe a lot of English-speaking atheists, although secular humanism can be either atheistic or agnostic.
Sometimes, atheists join together for various purposes - usually, it seems, to oppose the imposition of religious beliefs on society (the American Atheists might be a good example). It generally seems that these atheist unions are typified by their a desire for a lack of belief, rather than a belief in anything. While their purpose may be noble (and I agree with their purposes many time), they serve primarily a negative function of the sort that does not ordinarily tend to generate hymns and inspiring songs.
My point is that atheists have various systems of belief that are atheistic in nature - but that atheism is not a belief system itself. Semantics, perhaps, but it never hurts to define your terms.
And yes, I think my atheist and Jewish and evangelical friends respect my liberal Catholic beliefs. They don't espouse my beliefs and they may consider me quaint and perhaps eccentric for what I believe, but they respect me for believing what I believe. I, in turn, have great respect for a number of different systems of belief; and I study other beliefs because I have much to learn from what others believe.
So, Mrr, I guess I'm not quite ready to admit defeat - yet.
But feel free to keep trying to convince me.
-Joe Offer, off to work-