cynic - a person who believes that only selfishness motivates human actions and who disbelieves in or minimizes selfless acts or disinterested points of view.

Being an atheist does not automatically make you a cynic or cynical. There is no one unifying belief among atheists except there is no god/higher power. It is possible that the only atheists you have met with are just as you say, but it could also just be how you perceive their viewpoints. Quite a few theists think that atheists "have no belief system." Some equate disbelief with hopeless and sadness. I am able to understand your view point, since it seems that theists need an outside force to give meaning and whatnot to your lives. When you realize there is nothing, no meaning, the only person who can give you hope and strength is yourself. But I am off topic, as far as if selfishness motivates human actions that depends on your perspective. There is no universal truth (except maybe that there is no universal truth), there is no good or evil, just the pleasure/pain response. You don't like to see people suffer so you help them, the key is "You don't like". Meaning seeing those people suffer makes you feel bad so you help them to relieve your own pain. When you love a person, it is only because that person makes you feel good. You like the way they look or how funny or smart they are. These things trigger feelings in you so it can be seen as though selfishness controls all your decisions. Most people cannot understand this, they like to deny that all things are done for one's self. But like I said, it is a matter of perspective. Selfishness is not good or evil, because those are just concepts people apply to things that please or displease them. I want to make the world a better place for future generations, others don't care about the future because they won't be here to experience it. Atheists cannot be put together for the most part because we all have different belief systems. I find the hope, strength and happiness inside myself and I try to spread those beliefs to others. I guess though by definition I must be cynical because I believe all things are done for selfish reasons. But since people perceive things as good and evil we are taught that selfishness is an evil trait. I do not know that many people that would condemn finding hope, strength and happiness in all of us as evil.

It is ridiculous, but it isn't like I'm giving them money. Other people give money to them by going to the games or buying products that represent/endorse these athletes so that is how they can get their "billions". Humanity is trapped in a cycle of wage slavery so people want to be entertained and not focus on that sad fact. People live vicariously through the people that entertain them because of this, with the constant references of "us" and "we" in conversations about "their" team. I wish people could get behind making the lives of everyone better and taking responsibility for their own lives, like they get behind "their" team.

I understand, to justify your belief system, that all words of the bible have to be true. If one word of the bible is not right, then doubt can be placed on all of it. So in your mind dinosaurs had to live with man. I do not really care what fantasies you like to entertain. Mankind has had many different religions and all say they are the truth. Also, the only thing I think that is awesome about intelligent design is, you are not allowed to say it was a god that did the designing. You also have to admit the possibility that it could have been space aliens. One day, through education/knowledge, mankind will crush all religions. I just hope there will not be any super-intelligent sea otters that will want to crush our skulls like clams on their tummies.