Interesting. Which arguments or discussion points influenced you the most on this issue? I find that people don't usually articulate why they change on positions like this.

Yes. I made the same natural transition after joining Agnostic.calm. ?

Eh, I can't really nail myself down to one or the other, and don't care to. Don't think it's important, really.

What matters to me is being a good person and helping others, right here and now. I'm not terribly motivated to suss out whether I think there's a possibility of the existence of supernatural entities or not. Settling that question isn't going to change anything for me about how I approach life, so why bother?

Not due to this site. In fact, while it was gradual it was not because of direct influence. I was just a little younger than you when my agnosticism turned toward atheism. At that point in my life there were no influences towards atheism just influence away from theism and mysticism. It just became hard to believe that they believed such stupid things.

For me, the difference between being agnostic and atheist is more slight.

An agnostic has learned or lives in religion. Therefore the basis of what they believe is rooted in religion, perhaps a very specific one that they grew up in but has found that to be incomplete, untrue or unbelievable. They have doubt about religion but cannot believe with certainty that there are no gods. In fact, they fall into the theist trap of belief that since you cannot ever prove something does not exist you should not by default say there is no god(s) since you can never prove that.

For me, an atheist believes with at least some certainty but not necessarily 100% that there is no god(s) because it should be possible to prove that they exist if they do. There is no evidence. Religion is making a claim that they exist therefore without any hard evidence there's really no reason to say that they might exist either. They make the claim, therefore it is on them to prove it.

For other atheists there is just a threshold of evidence that says to them that there must not be any god(s) or that like religion they grew up that way but any way you get to that conclusion is still right.

It took me about ten years.

Nah. Atheism is too definitive for me. A bit like Christianity!

Yes

Yes, I expect it's pretty common, not unlike someone identifying a bi or pansexual for a while before saying, nope totally gay. Add to that, the intuitive appeal of the position that the rational response to a question for which there is no evidence is "I don't know." Also, a lot of high-profile atheists can be dicks, so it's challenging to throw in with their lot all at once.

For me the difference between agnosticim comes down to my confidence in the prior I now hold. It was moving from say 75% to my current 99.9. Somewhere along that continuum, I switch labels.

I considered myself agnostic for two years after I left christianity.
I was still hoping God was real, I had brgun researching other religions and I thought calling mysrlf an athiest would forever scare people away from me.
Eventually I decided, even if God is real, I’ll refuse to worship him, other religions are just as ridiculous and I have met some amazing atheists.
Dont let the stigma of the word get to you. They want atheists to be demonized for a reason, to keep people in church. Sure it’s just a stupid label, but that’s how society works.

Meh, can you define a major distinction between the two?

Does it matter?

It's a bit confusing and a bit of a trap in a way. If you don't believe in any gods, that can be sufficient. Or you can believe there is no god and be more assertive about it, or you can say you don't know if there is a god or not. In the first case you simply have no belief, as in "don't care". In the second case you believe there is no god. This sounds the same except you state it as a belief. In the third case you are unsure if God exists and take the agnostic title. So you can have no belief, or believe in atheism, or say you don't know(agnostic ). The three cases sound similar but the big distinction is that the latter two have a title. People generally want to label you or slap some kind of handle on you. So take your pick.

I consider myself a godless heathen. And proudly so in that I don't waste time and energy on ancient fairy tales. All in the name of subjugation .

Please watch that video. It helped me understand.

Agnosticism is the gateway atheisism..........

A very long time ago.

I prefer the books that have been written by expastors and some of the atheists.