Spiritual direction: Diff between agnostic/atheist

There is a huge difference between an agnostic and an atheist.

An agnostic is not sure whether there is a God or not and a true agnostic is open to the belief and the hope that there is a God and that they, upon death, will be "pleasantly surprised." While that is a risky stance in the sense that one is trusting that one lives a worthy life without placing God and his instruction first, it is much more worthy of respect and good dispensation than the atheist view. There is a humility in a true agnostic stance and you know from Bible and Qur'an reading that humility is the key that opens many doors, God willing. An example is my ex-husband who is (last we spoke) a Jewish agnostic. He has a gentle hope that God exists and that stance will be very appealing to God when his time comes.

An atheist has decided on his or her own that God does not exist. This disbelief has two possible manifestations. One is to disbelieve that God exists the way God himself revealed himself, and to attribute God's works to some animistic, scientific or "universal forces" principles. So this type of atheist believes something greater than himself or herself exists, but attributes that greatness to natural forces. The other type of atheist is the flat out disbeliever in a higher power, coupled with a scorn for other humans (thus pumping himself or herself up) who do have beliefs.

Atheists think they have a secret fail safe mechanism. They secretly think that if that big fat old "God really exists," then, when they die, they will get the "pleasant surprise" and will get into heaven on God's mercy. Wrong!! Agnostics can have some faith in hope in that possibility because they remain open in their hearts to that hope, and therefore they remain open to God. They also tend not to try to spread their disbelief in a viral spewing, so they don't tend to carry responsibility for other people's loss of faith to their discredit. Atheists, especially the second type, are loud mouthed in their disbelief because they feel that by pushing down believers around them that they are lifting their ego and intellect higher. Thus they proselytize their atheism and will be severely judged and chastised by God, not receiving salvation, in direct proportion to the even single soul of one person that they jeopardize by their own teachings, which are viewed as temptations. Yes, a person is responsible for their own temptation. Many atheists sneer that religious people should not fear them. Well, parents fear who their children hang around with. A gang who tempts a youngster to participate in a robbery is responsible for the youngster's action, just as much as the youngster who agrees to go along with the temptation offered to him or her. So mouthy atheists are in the "anti-God temptation business" and that is a guaranteed way to not be saved upon one's death, which is total and final.