I technically never met one single athiest. Not in academia. Not in even Punk or Hardcore culture. They have all been agnostic.

Atheism is the total certainty and belief that their is no God.

Agnosticism is the disregard to the importance of if there is a God or not absolutely. There may be or may not be a God.

Everyone when it is said and done places themselves in Agnostic thought. You really can't prove a negative and so this is the place of philosophy and thought. Historically they were Diest like Ben Franklin.