[GenghisTron]

I often hear people say that they're 'atheists'. Many atheists pride themselves on their intellectual accomplishment by claiming they're taking a 'rational' stance on the existence of a deity, but I disagree.

I feel that the most rational position is agnostic atheism.

There's no point in claiming you're on the intellectual high ground when taking a very much faith-based position, because by it's definition, atheism is the rejection of deities. Faith entails that you believe in something, contrary to there being sufficient evidence. We cannot prove OR disprove the existence of deities, so therefore, atheism is faith.

What is the difference? Agnostic atheism basically entails that, I'm going to err on the side of caution and not declare that there is no doubt in my mind that there's not a creator, while at the same time, rejecting conventional theism.

Because after all, isn't it faithful to be 100% sure in your mind that there is no 'creator' or deity, while at the same time criticizing theists for being 100% sure there is a 'creator' or deity? It certainly seems like a paradox to me.

I'm not saying atheism itself is irrational, I'm saying that atheism on it's own is irrational. I guess what I'm saying is, people misunderstand atheism, and if I had to wager, I'd bet a vast majority of those that claim they're 'atheists' are actually agnostic atheists.