ATHEISM, AGNOSTICISM, HUMANISM

Atheism, Agnosticism and Humanism are three interrelated belief systems.

Agnosticism is not a religion or complete ethical system. It is simply a belief that we cannot prove the existence or the non-existence of deity; (i.e. of one or more Gods, one or more Goddesses, or combinations of the above). Many Agnostics believe that we cannot know anything about deity or deities at the present time, but that this could conceivably change in the future.
Atheism is also not a religion or a complete ethical system. It is a belief that deity does not exist, and that humans are the highest known form of intelligence in the universe.
Humanism is a philosophy which in most cases embraces Agnosticism or Atheistic belief about the non-existence of a deity. But it goes further to create ethical systems based upon reason and logic. It regards humanity as the measure of all things.

Many Agnostics, Atheists and Humanists have a negative attitude towards traditional formal religions. Some feel that:

reliance on an interaction with a mythical deity interferes with one's ability to interact with fellow humans.
reliance on God's will reduce our motivation to solve our own problems, and thus ignore many social evils.
such religions promote the idea that perfectly natural feelings (such as anger, lust, pride, wanting things) are evil and sinful. This leads to feelings of guilt where none should be present.
that traditional beliefs are often supported by fear of eternal punishment after death and by fear of retaliation by an angry and vengeful God during this lifetime. To live in fear is unhealthy.