I don’t know if your post was to support what I wrote or not. BUT, from our Jewish sources, I assure you the story of Aaron and the golden calf is layered with the most intense depth you could imagine.
A taste: When the sea split, all people, from the biggest scholar to the lowliest servant girl saw “bigger revelations than those of Ezekiel [who saw the throne and an image of a likeness of G-d....go explain that one....(hint, Jews can...)] SO—these people who had just seen G-d, so to speak, saw a throne with an image of an ox on it. (...face of a man, ox, lion, eagle...) So in the absense of their leader Moses (by half a day) they wanted to “create” a leader that wouldn’t be overcome with the wonders of the heavens and STAY there instead of rejoining his congregation. Ergo the ox/calf.... there are other explanations but again, just an example.
There were not atheists at that time, but that did not prevent them from practically acting as such, while the hardness of heart shown in rejecting Moses would latter be seen in rejecting the Messiah. Acts 7