'I'm an atheist BUT ...' As Daniel Dennett noted in Breaking the Spell, a bafflingly large number of intellectuals 'believe in belief' even though they lack religious belief themselves. These vicarious second-order believers are often more zealous than the real thing, their zeal pumped up by ingratiating broad-mindedness: 'Alas, I can't share your faith but I respect and sympathize with it.' ... Look out for it.... Atheists as well as theists unconsciously observe society's convention that we must be especially polite and respectful to faith.

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Let me not labour the point. I have probably said enough to convince at least my older readers that an atheistic world-view provides no justification for cutting the Bible, and other sacred books, out of our education. And of course we can retain a sentimental loyalty to the cultural and literary traditions of, say, Judaism, Anglicanism or Islam, and even participate in religious rituals such as marriages and funerals; without buying into the supernatural beliefs that historically went along with those traditions. We can give up belief in God while not losing touch with a treasured heritage.

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[S]ophisticated theologians like Tillich or Bonhoeffer ... If only such subtle, nuanced religion predominated, the world would surely be a better place ... this kind of understated, decent, revisionist religion is numerically negligible....

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[B]ear in mind that I am calling only supernatural gods delusional.

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Pantheists don't believe in a supernatural God at all, but use the word God as a non-supernatural synonym for Nature, or for the Universe, or for the lawfulness that governs its workings....Pantheism is sexed-up atheism.

-- "The God Delusion," by Richard Dawkins