Why cant people ever be religious or not be religious.

Honestly some people make me laugh.

I aint religious i just live my life and thats its. Why cant other people just do the same?

I personally think that being an athiest is no better than being a fundementalist Christian or any other hardcore religious person. Just like we cannot be sure there IS a god, we cannot be sure there ISN'T a god. I prefer agnosticism because it keeps the door open to possibilites, and it isn't based on the stubborn assumption that there for sure is or isn't a god, because as humans, we can never truly know that. I believe there is some higher "power" out there, but that it's nothing like this personified human-like figure that most religions make it out to be, that "watches" over us, make conscious decision and has feelings like we do. Religious people say that god made us in his likeness. I think the irony is that WE have made GOD in OUR likeness

Are we including agnostic people in with "athiests?"

Just wondering.. and I'm also wondering if those people are truly athiest, or merely say it because it's the more common term. I'm more agnostic than anything... it'll be a long time before we humans ever attain some enlightenment that proves the existance of a god or afterlife, so in the meantime I'll find truth in unknowingness.

http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/08/26/polls-show-atheists/  ------ link. This is a little article simply saying that atheists are on the rise in America. It basically saids there growing bye leaps and bounds and 15% see them self's as atheist. So what do you think about this. Like are not this vocal minority group is growing bye leaps and bounds. I consider myself  the non-religious type. I don't think athesist deserve the push-back they get from christian groups,simply because of the way the see the world. What makes christianity any more valid than what the atheist believe's. I can't stand it when some religious person tries to force there view's on you. I think the bible is nothing but a morality book,trying to tell you how you should act. I'm not going to try to force this view on some christian person,so why do they feel the need to force there view's on me. I live in Oklahoma,which is often called the bible belt,so please understand my rant. What makes atheists any less valid,then any other group?

I'm surprised it's that low.  Athiests seem to push their agenda (for example taking prayer and christmas carols out of schools, etc) a lot for being such as small minority.

What makes atheists any more valid, then any other group?

I wouldn't put agnostics and atheists in the same bag. In the core, they're completely different from each other.

I, for one, am an atheist. I don't believe there's a god or such kind of beings, but it's possible there was a Jesus (although without the hocus pocus written in the bible).

Truth be told, I think agnosticism is more balanced they atheism or any religion. You may not have any evidence of god, but that doesn't prove he's not real.

How are they so completely different? All the negative reaction I've ever heard about agnosticism is that it's so incredibly close to atheism that it's hardly woth claling it it's own class. It's all about how close to zero you want to go with the probability of no type of Diety existing... but I'm betting there's a lot of self-proclaimed "athiests" who actually are more agnostic.

...Even though they're almost the same thing.