well, no, not really. Strictly, atheism is simply not believing in a god. This could be because you are ignorant of the concept of a god. All babies are atheists. I regard myself as a pragmatic atheist - I don't believe in a god because there is no reason TO believe in a god. That is distinct from the "hard" atheist view of denying there is a god, but the practical difference in how I behave as opposed to a hard atheist is nil. Except I don't try to (de)convert believer friends.

As for David Foster Wallace, while undoubtedly a genius, in this he is simply wrong. Effectively he was trying to change reality by redefining terms. He starts with a premise (which is an assumption presented with no proof) that everyone worships. And defines worship in such a way that it becomes meaningless - if everything is worship then nothing is worship. Clever wordsmithing but logically vacuous.

As for the argument that whatever is worshipped is a god (the premise of Terry Pratchett's (himself an atheist) brilliant Small Gods), that just does not make sense. It is, again, twisting the meaning of words to draw a conclusion. For example, people don't pray to money or carry out any other devotional practices or do anything else that would be regarded as worship.