I was reading _______ a few months ago, and he talked about how the most intelligent Christian theorists he had ever met had truly understood the metaphorical nature of their belief system. These were people at the top of their faith structure, presiding over a organization of materialist, "orthodox" religious followers, and in a lot of ways, they might be considered atheists - but it is about self-identification, not outside classification. And metaphors, or allegories, or whatever you'd like to call them, still contain a lot of power - power which is important, and sometimes, unexplainable.

As to the strictest form of atheism: this is why I find Daoism so powerful or interesting. One of the tenents is: don't use something limited (human understanding or logic) to explain something unlimited (existence, or "the meaning" of existence). It's like trying to use a ruler to measure wind velocity. There's a lot that can't be explained, and it may be because we don't yet have the skills for it yet, or it may be because it's inexplicable because of some other metaphysical/ontological force, and we shouldn't just reject it outright.

(typed quickly in a small square box, so I don't get shitcanned)