Thanks, Jack, for turning me on to J. W.’s essay! Pantheistic Atheism — that’s gotta be among the most attractive oxymorons ever forumlated.

Nihilistic, Pantheistic … I believe there are a few other distinct buckets of Atheism! Let’s see …

Hitchens — was brilliant but also an overbearing bully with zero tolerance for dissenting viewpoints. Still, not Nihilistic, I think Narcissistic Atheist is more like it.

How can you call Richard Dawkins a nihilist, when his face lights up talking about the Magic of Reality? How can you call Neil deGrasse Tyson (the flag-bearer of the Sagan tradition you mention) a nihilist, when he literally preaches astronomy and love of science with the fervor and persuasiveness of a gospel-choir evangelist?

How can you call me a nihilist, when I translate children’s literature and run a publication devoted to humorous poetry?

I’ve proposed in my essay below that Atheists need a full rebranding, and adopt a more positive label — my suggestion was pro-gnostic: “ a believer in knowledge, and in the human ability to create meaning through learning, experimenting and self-discovery…”