It's a figure of speech, but I am not an atheist, no. I believe that there is something higher than us (what that is, or how it is, I do not know. And no, not a man with a beard) But it isn't any known religion, and is likely nothing we can possibly conceive of. Religion is man made and fake (a desperate human effort to understand the world, and a fear of dying). And even given that I believe there is something, of some nature, higher than us (or outside of our laws), that does not mean I believe in afterlife. I believe that in all probability, we are either some sort of entertainment, or else a small piece of a much larger puzzle.
The reason I am not an atheist is they are almost as closed minded as religionists. The difference is their religion is science. And the problem with that is, almost certainly how we came to be, transcends science. Science can only explain the here and now of our universe. It cannot explain where and how the laws of science came into being, or what was before the universe. And so science is ultimately meaningless in the grand scheme of things. We are 3 dimensional beings trying to understand a realm that lies well beyond what our small puny senses can tell us.
In fact, humans are searching in vain for answers, and upon death, it's likely all they will find is oblivion. Note that belief in some sort of higher being, or higher intelligence, or construct outside of our known laws, does not have to mean belief in a god, or an afterlife. It's this that Atheists find hard to grasp.
