Yes, I was hoping there was a religion where my atheism would not be considered hypocrisy, but it doesn't look like it, thanks for the info! The government is not even close to a replacement for religion, though some people unfortunately treat politics as one. Not all atheists think exactly the same, I am an atheist and I guess I believe that scientifically speaking we are created by chance, and I believe laws are rules which are enforced on an entire community by the agreement of the community, which in the legal sense means -theoretically- they are rules enforced by the consent of the majority of the population to the rule of the authority, which enforces those rules via the implied threat of unequal access to force. Depending what exactly the divine/higher purpose you speak of is, I may or may not believe humans have one, but rights do not come from government, they are God given, and it would be frankly ridiculous for even an atheist to believe otherwise, especially to think that the government can affect rights in any way but to infringe upon them.