Thank you for starting this thread! I am always reluctant to talk about religion because people seem to get so upset by it. I cannot, for the life of me, understand why people cannot have an open and even spirited debate about religion without losing their minds and hating each other forever, LOL. At this point in my life, I would say I am an Agnostic Christian. I don't know how else to describe it. A few years ago, I would have said Agnostic/Atheist, but feel that would be dishonest since when I thought I was dying, I was praying to God. Granted, I think when you are in a really scary situation, you go back to what is familiar and for me, that was Christianity. In the last couple years because of this, I have gone back to referring to myself as "Christian" but I use that term very loosely.
I was raised very conservative Christian, but always questioned some of the core ideas from a very young age. I did do my own research and Bible study and all it did was take me further away from belief in God. There is a saying that I have heard a lot of Atheists use and that is that there is no quicker path to Atheism than reading the Bible. For me, that was definitely true. I found it very difficult to believe that much of what I was reading was written by (or inspired by) any sort of divine being. It seemed far more likely that it was written by humans with their own biases. That combined with a lot of other things that I could not accept about some organized religions, led me eventually to being Agnostic and then Atheist.
I certainly can't say that I have it all figured out though. I do find myself still identifying as Christian even if I don't buy into a lot of what I have deemed to have been created by man. I still pray, even though I don't philosophically believe that prayer works. Even if, for example, I prayed when I thought I wasn't going to live and I did indeed pull through, I can't say that I think God answered my prayers. If I accept that, I also have to accept that God doesn't answer the prayers of all the thousands of children that die every day. I can't accept that. I would feel very arrogant if I did accept that. It is also very hard for me to see how religion is sometimes used to oppress. I highly recommend the book Letter to a Christian Nation. It really was an eye-opener for me. One of the hardest things for me though is that so many of us use religion as an excuse to suspend reality. It is just like how people for centuries refused to believe that the Earth was not flat. We can't be so blinded that we don't accept the reality of the world.
It frustrates me when I see otherwise intelligent people resort to one of the cliche catch phrases to discount reality. I was once one of those people, so I cannot judge. Before I knew anything about evolution, I would get angry when I saw things like the Darwin fishes on cars. Of course, I thought I knew exactly what evolution was and I thought that my discounting it with the typical "catch phrases" like "Why are there still Apes"? was perfectly logical when really it was completely nonsensical and showed that I had no idea what evolution even was. Anyway, that is just one example among many. This combined with what I found when I delved deeper into religion (and science too) is what really made me begin to doubt that we "have it right" with regards to mainstream Christianity (which I only mention because that is my background). Anyway, I have gone back to identifying as Christian for multiple reasons (some of which probably are not "good" reasons), but, I use that term loosely and not to mean that I literally accept all the teachings of the Bible nor agree with much of what I see from other Christians (mostly the oppression of others).
I really just don't know though. Something tells me there is more to the world that we simply cannot understand. Studying a lot of these issues in college has changed my views on a lot of things, but also helped me to accept other things more readily. I definitely feel more "okay" about being a Christian and still seriously questioning it because some of the greatest minds in history have done the same thing. It is also even harder for me to look at something like a single cell and believe there is not a God, even understanding and accepting evolution. I guess for now, I remain an Agnostic with Christian tendencies (yes, because I was raised in that religion). LOL
