well look at it from an objective standpoint. we have questions that we cant answer so we place our faith in god. they have questions they cant answer so they place their faith in science and time. that time will reveal the science behind it all. to quote shmuley boteach (and im not a supporter i just really liked this line he used) “the only difference is that our “God” has 3 letters in his name and their’s has 4″ (time…for those of you who didnt get it)
so we look at the world and we look at the torah and we choose the torah for whatever reason each of us has emuna (in varies from person to person) an atheist looks at the world and looks at the torah…sees gaps…(which judaism explains as “its hashem’s cheshbon, we dont or cant understand it) and turns to science. insteead of acknowledging that humanity will never know everything they have faith that in time science will out. so yeah…thats how you get atheists…that and its usually predicated on tzadik v;ra lo rasha v;tov lo or some variant (the world is so unjust that there couldnt possibly be a god to which i usually respond “what if there is a god and he just hates you” always fun to see the reactions)
agnostics want to believe in something but they just cant reconcile their differences with religion so theyre left in limbo picking and choosing from whatever they like. then you have gnostic atheists who unlike regular atheists who belive in no god, believe that there IS no god. theres a subtle difference. agnostic atheists think that the subject of god is irrelevant…they dont believe in god even if he does exist. gnostic atheists believe that there IS NO god. or as christopher hitchins put it…”antitheist”
im rambling…