Everything to me is part of the same universe, we know how old it is... before time began would be just as natural, I see no reason to attribute it to a god simply because we don’t know the answer, that’s falling into the god of the gaps thing and would make us the same as a theist... agnostic seems like your trying to hedge your bets should your logic fail you. Seems to me once you have gone as far as agnostic you would have to go to hell for finding out to late and not being saved... reason enough to make the jump to athiest for me. We don’t need evidence to prove no god exists, I can make up stuff you can’t prove all day, it’s up to theists to prove he does, but once they say it’s a matter of faith the conversation is over.

Logic.

You must prove your bullshit fantasy exists, until and unless you do, it's fiction.
I do not have to disprove the negative condition of your non-existent fantasy.

Religious theologians actually teach a false narrative about Atheism and Agnosticism. Your opening statement tells me you are still laboring under that.

" I think atheism is based more on belief rather then empirical evidence and science, though much evidence would concur that there isn't a God.."

This tells me you are viewing Agnosticism and Atheism as points on a linear line, on the left, Theism, In the middle Agnosticism, and on the right Atheism, this is FALSE and INTENTIONAL by theologians.

A-Theism is a response to Theism, the a prefix denotes "lack of"
This is a position on belief, you have a belief in a God, or you lack a belief in God

A-Gnosticism is a response to Gnosticism, the A-prefix denotes lack of
This is a position on Knowledge, you claim to have knowledge of a God, or you claim to lack such knowledge of a God

Religion does not want to even acknowledge Gnosticism, because by doing so they have to admit Atheism (a lack of belief) has weight.

With the FALSE linear model, they teach followers that Atheists are COUNTERCLAIMING, claiming that Theists claim there is a God, Agnostics do not know, and Atheists claim there is no God. That is wrong both on linguistics and basic honesty.

Atheism is not ‘the belief that god(s) do not exist’.
Atheism is ‘not believing claims made stating that god(s) exist’.

I do not have a belief that god(s) are nonexistent, I just do not believe the claims made by others that their god(s) do exist.

There is a diference between believing no deity exists and not beliving in deities. I don't believe in imaginary beings such as deities. I accept the possibility that they could exist but have seen no evidence to make me believe they do. It is impossible to prove something does not exist, but that is no reason to belive it does.

That is not difficult for me to answer. I don't believe anymore that a deity exists because I see absolutely no proof. Do you see proof for... unicorns? Santa Claus. Multiple headed monsters? fairies? The list goes on.

Ok, I'll shoot. Oh wait. I'm not an atheist. I'm an agnostic. Sorry, didn't mean to ruin it by submitting a comment.

I don't see belief or not as mutually exclusive. For me God is like an echo of our awareness of both our universe and living things. God as an idea actually validates that awareness regardless of how I express it in my life. And that is where I become agnostic. My experience, belongs only to me.

Still, I experience deeply personal and sacred things both in nature and the night sky. And even if we can reduce these emotions and experiences to awwwww moments, woven together, even becoming collectively woven together we begin to arrive at a collective whispering about God.

But my goodness we sure do make a whole bunch of noise about the whole mess--that's for sure. Finally, why do we not discuss whether our feelings of hunger, thirst and others to decide if they are valid or not?

For the same reason you are an agnostic, I am an atheist. I firmly believe that if gods did exist, they would have left their signature everywhere.

True atheism is a rejection of theism, not a belief. It is a refusal to believe in a system of thought merely because of childhood indoctrination. It is a rejection of myth, not of truth. Indeed, it is an embracing of evidenced truth.

All deities to this point have died the test of time. I don't know if there is a higher power that were my agnostism lies. I'm an atheist as far as beings

You are trying to shift the burden of proof, classic mistake

Think of it like a court case, Atheists 'the jury' find the defendant 'God' not guilty of existing or..... in other words the prosecution 'theists' have not proven thier case. Why isnt it the other way round you ask? Because we 'Atheists' are not making the assertion of existance.

It amazes me the amount of people who struggle with this, but hey ho

Everyone is born agnostic. There's a reason that religious indoctrination begins before children can read or have the capacity to ask relevant questions. I was brought up in a non-religious environment. It just wasn't an issue.

I don't believe because I was never instructed to.

I consider myself lucky that I didn't have to go through all that and fight my way out the other side, alienating friends and family in the process.

The evidence suggests that man created god rather than god created man. It looks like a made up character like Superman etc. I don't believe in a god for the same reasons I don't believe in Superman. Am I being unreasonable in my disbelief in Superman?

For me it comes down to the question of what is a reasonable belief.. Why one thing warrants more credibilty than another, The answer lies in the mathematical law of probability based on the scientfic method, the search for empirical evidence which pretty much eliminares blind faith, It's just that simple.

For the same reasons I don't believe Bigfoot, mermaids, leprechauns, unicorns, or dragons exist. There's no evidence that they do. That's plenty of evidence for me not to believe something exists.

I like to say that I have exactly as much confidence that there is no god as I do that fairies don't exist. Could I defend the position that I absolutely know gods don't exist? No. But there is zero evidence of the supernatural, and the evidence we would expect to find is missing too. I am therefore reasonably confident that there is no god.

Atheism is as much an anti-belief as it is a belief ie; regardless of hardship I refuse to believe in the wizard in the sky. Same as Christian or Agnostic belief requiring that regardles of situation God has fortold it. It all comes down to if you believe in wizards in the sky or in your own ability.

For me, so much depends on the meaning of words. I'm 100% certain there's no Biblical God, but a pantheistic deity is plausible.

We, as atheists, don't need to provide evidence for the non-existence of gods. Those who claim gods exist have to provide the evidence. Some else has said that little green men on Mars have been proven not to exist. This is not true. All that can be said is that there is no evidence that they do exist.

I’m going to give you the story I give everyone, you think that God woke up 1 day and was like shit I need something to look at I’ll make the heavens and the earth. Then a few days passes and he is walking around and is like shit I need something to watch and God being as narcissistic as he is makes man in his own image, and says this guy right here is going to make me laugh to years.

"what makes you believe no deity exists?"
This is a poorly framed question based upon a misunderstanding of Atheism and an assumption that disbelief is needed.

God is a fantastic claim. A supernatural being, we cannot see, touch or test for in any way, nonetheless controls the very universe.

When someone, anyone makes a fantastic claim, it is upon the claimant to provide proof of that claim.

An argument is not Proof.
It is not evidence either, it is a rational argument.

See if you can follow along.
YOU say "Hey Dave, I got a new car."
"What did you get?"
"A Lamborghini."
"WHAT!? BS, your full of shit! Where is it?"

NOW, if it is parked outside or at your home and you roar up in the beast, then I eat Crow.
"Damn. I did not believe you. I apologize. Can I have a ride?"

You have now "proven" your Lamborghini (A fantastic claim for most folks)

It is not possible for you to do the same with your God idea, because it is a supernatural idea and we live in a natural world.

So, the impetus will always be the claimant to prove an impossibility.
Were anyone to somehow prove the supernatural it would instantly cease to be supernatural and become just another natural thing, an unknown now known, an anomaly solved. Not magic, not Zeus hurling thunderbolts, just a thunderstorm caused by pressure and heat and moisture.

It is not necessary for me to disbelieve in God, that would require a PROVEN God, which I then refused to actively believe in.
Because people of faith are convinced by the emotive argument of the tales they see that AS evidence, as proof, as God being Proven, and hence we are wretched unbelievers for refusing to see what is right in front of our eyes.
While we point and laugh and say "The Emperor has no clothes!"

No dis-belief is required.

Rather we are unconvinced.

Atheism is a loaded word. I prefer atheist to agnostic because it simply means "without god," not, no god could ever exist. I don't care enough to say god is definitively nonexistent because I simply don't know - not 100% at least. I live my life as if there is no god because it seems to give every day more purpose.

When I got my necktie caught in A typewriter. ---Woody Allen

I more of an "Apatheist" (meaning I don't care to believe in a deity as so far in my life one or more have not made themselves known to me, so screw it!).