Any by what process, pray, did you find this to be self-evident and universal?
For an atheist rationality is important, not dogma.
What's important to an atheist is entirely dependent on the individual, no?
Sure. There might be some, who call themselves atheist, but don't really know what this means.
Atheist just means they don't believe in god, or that they believe there is no god.
Yes, atheists come like all other groups in great variety. Some are smart, some are dumb. Some did think through what they believe, others just slap the atheist label on themselves. It is true, no atheist believes in god. However, only the simpler minded ones actively believe that there is no god. When a theist says 'There is a god' and the atheist says 'There is no good', both make an affirmative statement, which they have to prove. People, who make claims, have to prove these claims. The real atheist never says that there is no god, he just demands proves from the theist.
And this is not the same as agnosticism. As I wrote before: For an agnostic the question cannot be decided. For an atheist this question does not even exist.
It says nothing of how 'important' they consider this to be.
It does. Atheism is a certain state of mind. Not believing in a god, because there is no positive proof that there is one, is only a part of this. True atheists also don't believe in the Easter bunny, Santa Claus, or Russell's teapot. And a true atheist would immediately change his mind the very second he gets new informations, which prove that god, the Easter bunny, Santa Claus, or Russell's teapot exist. Atheism is less about believe, it is about dogmas. Atheists should be free of them, therefore it should not matter to them, if there is a god or not. Atheism is not a religion, but actively believing, that there is no god, is.
This is another difference between religion and atheism: Since religion is practically based on nothing, you can never say: 'You got it wrong'. At best it can be said that one got a certain 'colour' of religion wrong. For atheism there are no different colours. And one can get atheism wrong.
And this is not the same as agnosticism. As I wrote before: For an agnostic the question cannot be decided. For an atheist this question does not even exist.It does. Atheism is a certain state of mind. Not believing in a god, because there is no positive proof that there is one, is only a part of this. True atheists also don't believe in the Easter bunny, Santa Claus, or Russell's teapot. And a true atheist would immediately change his mind the very second he gets new informations, which prove that god, the Easter bunny, Santa Claus, or Russell's teapot exist. Atheism is less about believe, it is about dogmas. Atheists should be free of them, therefore it should not matter to them, if there is a god or not. Atheism is not a religion, but actively believing, that there is no god, is.
This is another difference between religion and atheism: Since religion is practically based on nothing, you can never say: 'You got it wrong'. At best it can be said that one got a certain 'colour' of religion wrong. For atheism there are no different colours. And one can get atheism wrong.