We might beware of anyone who claims otherwise. In my life, atheism has meant to live independently, to prepare my family to be self-reliant. This has entailed home birth, home schooling, independent scholarship in my work, and a generally anti-statist approach to the legal, medical, military, religious, and educational establishments. Although a maverick, I have learned the value of cooperation with like-minded persons. I would not expect other atheists to follow that pattern, since abilities and circumstances differ.
Atheists frequently disagree among themselves.
My friend Frank Zindler recently slammed home schooling in the American Atheist, writing that some parents lack qualification to be teachers, and that it has been a religious movement. Atheists are essentially individualists, with all that this implies. As soon as I read the back cover, I knew I was going to enjoy reading James Randi's The Mask of Nostradamus. Randi's writing tends to pack a bigger punch than Sagan's. In The Mask of Nostradamus, Randi turns his critical eye to the writings of Michel de Notredame, the famous 16th-century prophet.