[Todd]

I'm about to reveal myself as one of those pedantic, know-it-all atheists, but I believe it's okay here because words mean things.

If theism is "belief in a god", then atheism--the "a" coming from the Greek "without"--is "without belief in a god". There is a difference between "I have no belief in a god" and "I believe there is no god". Linguistically, the word athiest refers to the first one.

People labeling themselves as agnostic are really only half-describing themselves. "Gnostic" and "agnostic"--"with knowledge" and "without knowledge"--are applied to both theism and atheism. (see Exhibit A, attached)

It is my belief that nobody can truly consider themselves to be gnostic--neither theists nor atheists. I don't agree that anybody can KNOW that a god exists. Similarly, nobody can KNOW that no god exists; it is impossible to prove a negative. People claiming to KNOW in either case really mean they believe really, really strongly and won't consider ideas in the other direction.

In my opinion, Chemda falls into the upper left quadrant, agnostic atheism. Chemda, you can still claim to have no belief in a god or gods and still engage yourself in a search for answers--even if it takes a lifetime.