There seems to be a massive confusion over Atheism and Agnosticism and the whole concept of choosing one's religious interests and beliefs as far as i'm concerned.
I am Atheist, for all intents and purposes. Atheist in the knowledge available that we came about via unknown forces and through chance and that we are "lucky" to be here. Fact of the matter is, we are here and there is simply no other way existence could have been without us, otherwise it would be another universe entirely. Who knows, there may be other universes, but that is a moot point right now..
But what makes me Atheist is only that I do not believe without evidence or probabilities and I don't believe in the stories of Gods that have been put to me and it's fair to say, I have heard my share. If I chose to be Agnostic, I would not ever be sure of the existence of these Gods, but I am pretty sure they are not.. It's just too unbelievable and improbable with the evidence so far. The closest I have come to believe in a deity has been The Buddha, but in his own words he just discovered this Buddha nature and it can be found everywhere and in anyone. I like that idea. It's similar to "God" and how he can be found everywhere, though not a bearded man, literally. This was the origin of the Christian faith before it became a ghost/fairy story. It just meant that a good and peaceful nature was available for all who wanted to find it and that your conscience would always witness the good or bad you did. Daoism (Taoism) works a lot like this too. It says there is a "way" available for all who followed their natural path and let go of learned habits. The way would be shown to you through your real nature, once you stopped smothering it with necessities. The Dao is always here, you just have to tune in to it.
Fundamentally, this has linked all faiths the world over as I have put it. When you scratch away the surface, the clear picture can be seen.
Now it's fair to say that yes, I have certain beliefs in me, but these are purely related to nature, humanity and common sense. There is simply no room in my day for fairytales because it plasters over some very real ideas and some beautiful knowledge, not to mention the underlying awesomeness of our world in general. We have been led to believe that the world is a gift from the heavens, instead of something that is truly, in a natural sense, a miracle. Why does this have to be attributed to a person who Himself has no maker? We are not that special, we are just people wandering around a universal soup looking for answers and we may as well enjoy the fullness of this rather strange existence.
I am Atheist because the stories of Gods put to me make little practical sense. They are baseless and rather restricted. I don't have time to be unsure, in my 80 or so years as to whether I should be practising worship every day. I don't want, out of paranoia, to spend my time believing that someone "might" be listening in on my thought and watching my actions. I just got over Santa Clause, I don't need another invisible private investigator! And to be honest, though I generally don't get up to much activity and certainly not any that hurts another out of my own choice, I don't see why I should even consider doubt as a viable option whenever I feel like I want to do something in my life.
I, like you, will die eventually. And we are heading the exact same way whether you want to spend time believing or not.
I have enough things to think about and not much time to be uncertain in my life.
Uncertainty is not a good way for anyone to live. Decisions are what keep us living.
Anyway, was just a thought :-)
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