What is an Agnostic Atheist?

Atheism has been blown up in the last few years it seems, to a massive topic, a huge set of ideals, centered around a few charismatic and very intelligent individuals. This has given rise to a million and one different misconceptions as to what Atheism is. There is one simple answer to that question. One. No more. It doesn't matter what your friends or acquaintances tell you, what preachers, teachers and televangelists shout, what your government representatives say.

Atheism is the lack of belief in a deity.

That is it, that is all. You may have met Atheists who were objectionable people, shouting down your religious opinions. That doesn't mean their behaviour is representative of every day Atheists. Surely you would not deem Christian or Islamic terrorists as representative of their whole religion? Of course not, you're not an extremist. In Atheism, as in Theism, there are extremists. Thankfully, Atheist extremists, unlike others, tend to restrict themselves to verbal assault, rather than engaging in physical violence and terrorism.

So why Agnostic Atheism?

An Agnostic Atheist, as any atheist, does not believe in a God or Gods. However, he or she does not claim to know for sure that this is the case. They do not claim knowledge that deities do not exist, merely that they do not believe. This is in comparison to a Gnostic Atheist, who claims to know for certain that there is no such thing as a deity. I fail to see how it is possible to know for sure, hence I am Agnostic. If compelling evidence is provided, I will reevaluate my lack of belief accordingly. 

Coming back to Theism, there are some within the churches who claim to know with certainty that their God or Gods exist. While they are unable to provide evidence for this, I cannot understand how they can claim for certain that this is the case. No matter, I'm not going to argue with irrationality. However, given actual knowledge that a deity exists, where does that leave faith-based religions? You cannot claim to "have faith" if you have knowledge instead. Faith is not required in the presence of knowledge.