A Thought on Atheism

The other day on the way to work I heard someone talking about the merits of atheism. It got me thinking about how atheism can not provide any real moral structure for a society. Any atheist worth his salt will tell you that their highest authority is themselves and that there is no one 'out there' defining what their highest truths should be.  If that is so, that means that the individual, as the highest authority, gets to determine what is right and wrong for themselves. The following strange scenario comes to mind:

Atheist 1: I want your wallet.
Atheist 2: No. I want to keep my wallet.

Atheist 1: Because there is no higher authority in the universe aside from my own desire, I say that I can take your wallet.
Atheist 2: Just because there is no god in the universe doesn't give you the right to take my wallet.

Atheist 1: Actually it does. Because there is no overarching authority determining what is right and wrong for both of us, and, since I am bigger than you and can smack you around until you give me your wallet, I actually can demand your wallet based on my own version of truth - and the might of my arm.
Atheist 2: But I need this money to buy food, pay the rent and take care of my children.

Atheist 1: That is all drama to me - not my problem. As an atheist, you should know that we believe in the survival of the fittest. Because I am stronger than you (and obviously smarter), I am going to take that money, spend it on whatever I want, and won't feel bad about it once.
Atheist 2: That isn't fair! What about my children, not to mention my own dignity?

Atheist 1: Dignity? Fair? Now you sound like those miserable Christians that appeal to a higher authority to make sure that everyone is treated the same, and as you should know, that is a figment of your imagination, and a cultural construct created to make you feel guilty and weak. You are just borrowing from their cultural memory in order to make you feel that there is some type of leveling influence to protect you. Now give me your wallet.

Atheism taken to it's logical conclusions can only create a structure for society that is based on might over right and relative truth in which the strong survive, but the weak are denigrated. This can happen on an individual basis (when an individual - no matter what they profess to believe about the world - takes advantage of another person just because they can; ie: theft, child abuse, rape, murder - they are still living as an atheist, even if they profess to be a Christian), or on a corporate basis (when a country or leader destroys his people based on his own selfishness - examples abound).

I am sure that most atheists would accuse me of gross over simplification. However, I would counter that by saying that they are not being faithful to the simplest presuppositions that atheism has.

"Promises, covenants, and oaths, which are the bonds of human society, can have no hold upon an atheist. The taking away of God, though but even in thought, dissolves all..." - John Locke