How have you come to choose atheism rather than agnosticism?

If one defines "faith" sensibly (persisting in a belief and being certain of its truth, regardless of whether it makes rational sense or whether there is any evidence to support it), then atheists do not have "faith" that there is no creator or supernatural being -- atheists have become convinced that based on the available evidence put forward, the probability that gods do not exist is very, very high (say, 99.5 or 99.9 percent) -- high enough to be tantamount to be "certainty" for an atheist's practical purposes.

People who (generally) don't have "spiritual beliefs" (whether they are hard to classify or not) and who call themselves "agnostics" usually don't like to take that 99.5 or 99.9 percent probability that gods don't exist and translate that into the conclusion "There are no gods and I am an atheist." For me, the distinction between "atheist" and "agnostic" is mostly a matter of personal taste and variation in the willingness of a non-believer to express his or her position in absolute or categorical terms, even though the conclusion is technically provisional and susceptible to future revision if really convincing evidence came along.

I didn"t "choose" atheism over agnosticism. Instead, during my childhood as a read and learned more and more about history, science, mythology, archeology, anthropology, and the history of diverse religions, I moved through and past agnosticism and to the atheist stance that I have had since I was about 12 or 13 years old. I suppose I might have "stopped" at agnosticism, but I saw no reason to kid myself or to refrain from going "all the way" to what still seems like a rational, sensible conclusion: There are no supernatural beings.

No , it can't ... Atheism/Agnosticism is the doctrine or belief that there is no God or that it is limited ( therefore since it is limited there is no God even though some may say that there is a possibility , this belief shuts out the belief that there is God since there is not enough information ) ... lack of belief ... Atheists/Agnostics don't have faith ... there is a very thin line between Atheism and Agnosticism ... they're like brothers to me ( even though I'm not an Atheist nor an Agnostic )

And spirituality is not compatible with Atheism nor Agnosticism

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirituality

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith

Atheists/Agnostics do not believe in the Supernatural nor in body , soul and spirit and even if one does believe in that , it doesn't match the secular humanistic mentality nor the marxist mentality ... though it may match New Age or Paganism , but New Agers and Pagans are not Atheists nor Agnostics ... both of these beliefs are contradictory

* Type in the Yahoo search engine *

" The False Teachings of the Word of Faith Movement "

" The Gap Theory "

" Easy Christianity : 8 . Health and Wealth " ( exposes a false teaching )

" Understanding the Trinity snapshotsofGod "

" False Teachings About Health "

Read " The Battle for Truth " by David A. Noebel

People decide on atheism in view that they've grow to be closed minded. They have determined that medical proof laws out the probability of the life of God. I am agnostic seeing that in finding out traditional western religions, I uncover a contradiction within the common sense used to give an explanation for the motivations. Motivating men and women to take part by way of the worry of Hell is counter to the assertion that God is Love. If God adored you, then He could now not be inclined to torture you perpetually. Would ANY reasoning man or woman beat their baby constantly in view that of a cup of milk was once spilled at the sofa? Atheists rule out the probability that the conventional western religions are right. I suppose that those religions had been corrupted of their interpretations. The Jehova's Witnesses suppose that there's no hell. They suppose that whilst you die in sin, you simply die and keep useless. They additionally do not suppose there's a heaven. They suppose that the Earth might be re-made right into a lawn of eden after the judgment. The Buddhists suppose that your Life Energy (soul) recycles into a different shot at existence. This satisfies the legislation of conservation of power. I haven't begun to uncover an encompassing reply, might be a few mixture of Buddhism and the Witnesses if the common sense will also be accomplished.

I don't have faith in the supernatural. That's really the only thing that defines me as an atheist as opposed to an agnostic. I flat don't believe that anything can exist outside of existence.....it doesn't even make sense when I say it. I also have never understood the logic or reasoning behind all this "higher power" stuff. What does that mean? How do you make that judgment? Where is worship implied?

God has been used for centuries to explain that which cannot be explained, how the sun rises, what the stars are, why fish swim and birds fly.

Now with science, we know why nearly everything is and we know how it came to be.

Belief in a god isn't neccassary to lead a good life.

edit---who's the weiner that went through this question thumbs downing all the atheist answers?? Get a life!

Atheism is not a faith or indeed even a belief.

It is the lack of a belief in any gods.

I came to atheism over a period of time,there was no one thing that brought me to this way of thinking.

honestly I'm only 12 but i decided to become an "atheist" when i was 7 after just being irritated at everyone for trying to make me become Christian. i honestly don't deny the possibility of God but i don't like the way people try to conform to a certain religon just because a lot of other people follow it. and so many people talk about God like they know everything and they've actually talked to God! it just pisses me off so whenever someone asks me "omg why don't you go to church" i just say i'm atheist even though i'm really more agnostic. but this way if they have a problem with me they will probably show it and then try to get me to convert and then i can just avoid them. i want true friends who don't care about my religon..... i dont know about other people but that's the way it is with me!

Do you call yourself agnostic to faeries, leprechauns and unicorns? Since there is the same evidence for a Creator and other mythological beasties, the same thinking applies.

It could be that faeries exist and we just can't comprehend them. But they have no effect on my life whatsoever. Should they?

I have faith in humans. I am an Atheist because of personal observations. At the same time it takes allot of faith to believe in humanity.

Agnosticism is the position of the intellectually indecisive. It is the decision to not make a decision (ie different to simply not knowing the correct answer). Therefore, it is technically unchangeable - if you never make a decision, your position is unchangeable. Declaring yourself an atheist is not only the intellectually superior position but is also open to change should the appropriate evidence present itself.