Can I be a Dualist and an Atheist?

At a certain level of complexity, a material thing (the brain) ignites into a fiery chemical-electrical state known as consciousness. This is not simply a change in quantity; although a certain quantity of brain matter is necessary but not sufficient, but, once ignited, consciousness is a new quality in the universe. There are, of course, degrees of consciousness and it is not limited to the human species. This dualism allows human consciousness to escape certain epistemic problems and has more evidence for its existence than a theory of multiverses. Once accepted, I can easily see that anyone who is conscious will have properties appropriate to the concept of a mind. I can also see accept that there are conscious minds adapted to different environments; whales, dolphins, dogs, cats, etc. There is no boundary which would cleanly demark a brain that is capable of igniting into consciousness and, perhaps, the fire can be ignited in other ways as well. It will be interesting to see what potential AI holds as our technology increases. I do not believe that the fire of consciousness is possible without a supporting material, so some philosophers might lump me into the monist category. This would be a mistake because I am saying that the brain is not simply a meat computer but a necessary element of a different form of being. A thought is not identical to a sequence of firing neurons; the firing neurons are necessary for the thought as wax is necessary to sustain a candle's flame. Like the flame, consciousness arises when the brain or other information storage/retrieval becomes capable of distinguishing judgments about its surroundings such that those judgments become capable of being false. Once a judgment is seen to be false, the consciousness is able to adjust its judgment in the direction of being less untrue. One measure of this trait would be the ability to predict consequences more and more accurately. The judgment is said to be true when the predictions and the consequences are tuned to a defined standard. Truth then becomes coherent in a social system that allows human beings to support and value one another and to extend the limits of that coherent system.