Comment by smj-edison

Isn't atheism a rather big umbrella term? There's things all the way from secular humanism to agnostic atheism to new atheism to nihilism. There's many atheists who find purpose in a higher calling, such as taking care of the poor, or wonderment of the universe. Would those not be considered a "higher power"?

EDIT: one more thought: you can even think of a higher power as emergent behavior of individual parts.