I'm a self-labelled Agnostic and proud of it! This doesn't mean I'm lacking knowledge or exposure to the vastly differing views and writings or others. It doesn't mean that I don't find universal questions important. I'm Agnostic BECAUSE I care and BECAUSE I've passionately studied!
Every religion I've studied has an icon at it's root, who's trying to teach their method of having a satisfying state of existence to others. Most of these were created before the scientific method was created, so they had to explain things they saw occurring in some fashion. It's more calming to view lightning as emanating from a "Bearded Dude in the Sky," like Zeus, whom some set of human actions can be performed to please, rather that people feeling as if they have no control what so ever.
People don't function well when they aren't feeling in control of their self or surroundings. It's better for many to have some idea (even if later found to be incorrect) than no idea at all. Often the issues arise when their models 'break down' yet they fight vehemently to make their current method work somehow (often by discounting counter evidence) rather than accept their models need updating or a whole rework. WE LEARN FROM BEING WRONG!
The world would be a much better place simply by people being the slightest bit mindful of "What They Don't Know!"
This isn't a fight between science and religion, both are attempts to answer the most general question of "What the Heck is Going On?" The default human reaction of the unknown (for most) is fear, since by lack of knowledge means lack of power. This however really is a delusion, we all have the power to be mindful of our lives and surroundings, we all have the power to question and refine our models...yet many are presented from a young age that the "Spiritual Leaders" have something you do not.
Michael S. Gazzaniga put out his theory of the Interpreter Module in the early 1970's that basically says that our brains naturally come up with some answer to everything. It's really very rare (maybe short of debugging things, where we just toss up our hands saying I don't know,) to not generate some idea on how something works. As an example...someone arguing the world is flat in the 1400's isn't the most unreasonable thing. Really the idea of the Earth being round only solidified after the iconic shot from the Apollo mission.
Cosmic Joke
A long time ago I came to grips that every answer I generated, spawned at least 3 more questions. The underlying Cosmic Joke of this is that the more I know, the less I know. Essentially the power is in the questions, not the answers. When someone is SURE of something, questioning ends, and they close themselves to counter evidence. If something is truly important to you, the questioning can never stop, always something to refine or test.
By labeling myself as anything else than an Agnostic, I feel that I close myself off to opportunities. I'm open the Atheist thought that there is nothing out there (even though many purely discount the "Dude in the Sky" theory but are open to more passive, non-anthropomorphized ideas) while also be open to there being some sort of "Cosmic Consciousness." I question these things BECAUSE I care, BECAUSE I'm curious, and BECAUSE I know I don't have all the answers. I truly feel that if I felt I had all the answers on something, my search would end.
It's the questions that drive us, the questions that are at the core of our curiosity and wonder. Personally I find way more about a person by what their current questions are, versus their outdated answers.
Image Sources:
Agnostic Quote
Head Image
Earth From Space
More you Know Quote