Wow, this is the most interesting discussion i've read on an investing forum in a long time :)
The only thing i'd point out is that an "atheist" is not necessarily someone who claims to be certain of the non-existence of god.
It bothers me that atheists are often thought to be closed-minded because they deny the existence of gods, whereas agnostics appear to be open-minded because they do not know for sure. This is a mistake because atheists do not necessarily make a claim toward knowledge and may indeed be an atheist precisely because they do not know for sure — in other words, they may be an agnostic as well.
This is why "agnostic" and "atheist" are not mutually exclusive. Agnosticism deals with the question of knowledge, while atheism deals with the question of belief. I would even venture to say that most atheists are agnostic atheists. That is, most disbelieve in gods without claiming to know for sure that no gods can or do exist.
Too many people are just afraid of labeling themselves as "atheist", but it's bullshit in my opinion. People need to stop dancing around the question of belief. Being agnostic doesn't mean you do or don't believe, so it isn't a third option when asked if you believe in a god. You either believe or you don't, no matter what you know about the claim. If you don't know if you believe, then you don't.
On that note, i would agree that "gnostic atheism" would be pretty silly, if that is what you were getting at.
((((OK... sorry... quietly stepping down from my soap box now...))))
