I have written and I have had many a discussion where I articulate my sense of affinity for that which many atheists articulate. The reasons for rejecting a notion of a personal God are many. A good many of these reasons reside in the philosophical and “rationality” realm. While I have some questions about how truly exhaustive and definitive these arguments are, I can find much there that is understandable, and even “persuasive” if I “limit” myself to certain notions of what constitutes “rational”, because for many, what is “rational” is deeply tied to a philosophical framework that, in turn, is deeply tied to a particular “worldview”. Our modern age brings with it some notions that shy away from the “spiritual” in deference to the “rational” (the latter mention being that rationality which privileges the “scientific” (I use quotes because science itself is not a monolithic agreement on what consititutes “fact” – when I hear people deny this, I continue to hear them say things like “it’s just obvious”. And it’s understandable as to why it seems “obvious”).
There is also the “problem” posed by a variety of “religious” people and their insititutions. There is quite a bit of distortion and corruption that can be found. The distortions are often perpetrated by people so visible and so “loud” that it makes me cringe when I see the microphone moving in their direction. But these are not “representative” of “religion”. Indeed, NOTHING is “representative”. The very nature of religion is that it deals with ultimate values. Atheists have core or ultimate values. “Core” is probably a better designation because then there are people who have a problem with any “ultimate” or “supreme” values; meaning those who tend toward the notion that ALL values are “relative”. But even those who would shy away from talk of “ultimate values” cannot escape the fact that they themselves operate within their own sense of what matters most to them.

There are many, many self-professing atheists and also “agnostic” who both have and articulate a strong sense of affinity for social justice, peace, and compassion for people. With them, I feel a deeper theological affinity than I do for people who claim to be Christian and yet associate themselves with values that come into direct conflict with the core values I identify as being Jesus’ core values. What people CLAIM to be their motivation for the values they hold are deeply shaped by what they have LEARNED from the communities to which they have found themselves to be in support, and by which they are supported. There are GOOD reasons for people to reject the notion of a personal God, most often because they have come to the conclusion that the people who represent “the people of God” in their life have been anything but a people to be emulated, admired, or trusted. People with abusive parents experience future problems trusting men or women, or authority figures. Abusive and domineering religious experience can do the same with one’s notion of “God” and religious people. Some have also overcome those wounds to the extent that they realize at their core how their experience was not “the will of God” ; that it was a result of deep failures to live up to something more positive and supportive of themselves and of others.
As long as this post is, it only scratches the surface of how close I feel to many experiences reflected in the deeply profound articulations I hear from many atheists and agnostics concerning what they think about what would make the world a better place, and what they can do about it.