Prayer may be thought of as the way humans sent emails to the gods before the Internet. How many of them expected a direct reply is anybody’s guess, though there is no doubt there were some who imagined they received one.

Not only does it not require "faith" to be an atheist, that aspect should play no role whatsoever in being an atheist

In a philosophical sense atheism is at ground a rejection of supernatural entities as informative principles

I wasn't prone to proselytizing the fact I was an atheist.

How do we act, right now, in the moment, to embody what we believe, and act on those to make things right and good again. And what is the Right and the Good?

Religions can inspire philanthropy and great art, or heretic hunting and ignorance.