Hello to you to as well,  as you can see I am also new to this site also.  I have always been an athiest but I guess I have reached the "coming out" phase in my development.  I guess I would attribute it to too much education and this crazy desire to think for myself, it really has put my wife and in-laws into a tail spin though.  There is a bit of fundy in all of of them, surprisingly they still accept me but there is an conscious effort to avoid the religion issue.   So anyway welcome  from another newbie.

Welcome aboard enjoy your stay here. It sounds like you are an agnostic atheist like most of us here as agnostic is not really a fence straddler. There's absolutely nothing wrong with calling yourself an atheist so don't hide behind the label of agnostic. Nobody truly knows for sure if a god exists but if it does then it is not up to you to prove one does not exist. I'm still totally open to the idea a creator exists of some type, yet the religions of the world all seem somewhat questionable.

Hello, to you too.

Ask yourself this question: Can I say that I believe in god?

If your answer is anything other than 'yes', you are atheist.  Agnostic is not an inbetween state, for the matter is binary.  Agnosticism is a claim about knowledge; that you can't have it pertaining to something.  The matter of belief in god is one or the other of theism or atheism.  You are likely an agnostic atheist, or someone who does not believe there is any reason to believe in god since knowledge about such a creature can't be had or doesn't exist.  That is, you are unconvinced of the claims of theists.  It may seem like I'm picking hairs, but these distinctions are impotant and learnedness about the subject is an important way for someone to make their way to their end point.

Have the best time you can here and take a look around at the wonderful articles by the core members and take a look at any information you can get your hands on pertaining to the matter.  I'd even recommend Wikipedia as the articles on atheism there are not only concise, but accurate.

Hello, welcome ...

Welcome and enjoy the stay!!!!

Welcome!

I'd like to suggest a first step: if you don't know what to think, start by asking basic questions about various important topics. For example:

1. Do the basic claims of the religion you may be leaving (some form of christism, I'm guessing) actually make any sense? For example, does it make sense that god made humans the way they are (aka "sinful&quot, and then sends them to hell? Have you ever heard of a talking serpent (aside from anime - I'm a big fan too) ? If god so loved the world that he gave his son for us (John 3:16) why didn't he love the world enough to do so before drowning most of the world in his big flood?

2. How come there are so many different religions if any single one of them can be true?

3. Just how much of a change would you see in your own life if you just don't believe in a god? For me it meant some rough conversations with family, but also that I didn't have to make excuses not to go waste time at church any more.

4. Do you just believe because you've always been in a religion?

and finally, I have a question I'd like to ask you:

What do you think of Soul Eater? I'm digging the anime, but haven't found a good copy of the manga yet