The labels that others try to give us are irrelevant, to my mind anyway. I'm an atheist. That's what I say I am. If someone tries to say I'm anything else, unless they're doing it to my face, I tend to let it go because it really doesn't matter to me. Usually, I find a lot of believers don't understand the difference between atheism and agnosticism. They tend to see anything that isn't belief as atheism. Trying to explain the difference is usually an exercise in futility.

I think people find comfort in putting others into a box or category they can easily define when they're scared, ignorant or misinformed. If you know who you are, regardless of any classification, it's easier to cope with family who think you're going to burst into satanic flames at any moment.

all you can do is try to explain the difference. don't waste your energy being angry. I don't think this is something the average person thinks about

There is confusion about the two terms. I often say that I do not believe in a little gray-haired man playing pocket pool in the clouds. I do not believe that there is a creator that created humans and the Earth in a few days. I do not believe in the Bible in its literal sense. I do not believe in praying to the Almighty. I do not believe the almighty has a plan for individuals ,all humans or the future. So in many ways I am an atheist. The difference is the atheist cannot scientifically prove their point any better than the Christians could prove theirs. I consider myself an agnostic because I'm open to the idea of something so large and so impossible to Define that MIGHT exist.

My $0.02 is that at both ends of the spectrum. saying you KNOW there is no God is as logically fallacious as saying you KNOW there is a God.

The efforts of those who specialize in logic and philosophy should have a summit meeting and settle the meanings of these terms once and for all. This is getting tedious.

Clear definition of these terms is obviously lacking. We need to agree on a standard, which I don't see happening anytime soon.

What @AMGT said...

I'm a devout atheist!

Even though I identify as an atheist, it would by no means offend me to be considered agnostic. Both need definitive proof to believe. I feel more certain no deity exists, but no one has all the answers.

The first time I had this issue was when I was in the Marines....I even had to have 'Atheist' on my dogtags whether I liked it or not. It wasn't until the internets age (I was active during the arpanet age, pre-internets, but Agnosticism was pretty much understood then) that all these variations were being pushed around...I had a church of my own once, Church Of Agnos....Our motto was 'Once you realize or accept that you are ignorant, you are ready to learn.' Not perfect, but it worked. Good question, by the way.

yes i am a militant atheist. I saw a law prof. on tv the other day . she said" people "with" religion are intellectually backward" !! I loved that moment . we need more on the box.

I am both an agnostic, and an atheist. What this means is that I don't absolutely know that there is no god of any kind (agnostic), but I don't believe in any gods (atheist).

There is the belief in Agnosticism and then there is using the term to modify Atheism or Theism like using gnostic to modify Atheism or Theism. For me modifying Atheism with agnostic (lower case 'a' does not make you an Agnostic (capital 'A' that believes there is no God. If people think they believe there is no God but somehow also think it's unknown then use some other term other than agnostic, it muddies the water, creates concepts like strong/weak Atheism, hard/soft Atheism, explicit/implicit Atheism, it creates confusion and equivocation.