Agnosticism should be considered as genuine a religion as Christianity

Thank you for taking my challenge, Cody. You'll notice, if you look up agnosticism on dictionary.com, that there will be listings of the word with and without the word religion in it. Simply naming dictionary definitions of the word is not enough, and we must ask ourselves what religion really is. What do you define as your "religion"? If you are Christian, you will probably have no problem, because Christianity is wrapped up in a neat little package. For me, a non-Christian believer, I have to think a little harder to discover what it is. Religion definitely involves your beliefs in the metaphysical, and often deals with a deity. But I would resist the notion that a deity is absolutely necessary to qualify religion as such, as hinduism and, generally, atheism attest to. Wikipedia defines religion as "a set of common beliefs and practices generally held by a group of people, often codified as prayer, ritual, and religious law. Wikipedia also states about agnosticism: "...Some agnostics are termed agnostic theists since, while they do not claim to know any deity exists, they do believe (with varying degrees on skepticism) in, at least, one." Dictionary.com has this to say about religion: "1. a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, esp. when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs." Now we could throw definitions out of books and websites at each other for this whole debate, but it is clear that a precise definition of religion should probably be general enough to include each person's beliefs. Every person necessarily has some, even if it is insignificant, idea about something metaphysical or pertaining to the existence of God or lack thereof. Given the spirit of why our country was founded, and the strict protection of religious rights, I therefore postulate that everyone should be entitled to their own religion. Christians are easily recognized and respected in regards to their religion, and everyone should share this right even if they aren't Christian, muslim, etc. By denying any person a religion, the government is in effect establishing its own concept of religion, which is a clear and present violation of their first amendment rights. I was told in a past debate that my religion, agnosticism, is not viable and therefore should not be recognized by the government. I had a problem with assertation, so I am expressing it now. Let me explain to you what agnostic means to me. It means that I believe that the universe is the way it is, and I believe that I don't have the essential capablilites to apprehend it. I look at theists and atheists, and wonder why they invest so much in ideas that really have no logical foundations in reason. At best they are decent guesses. I've read philosophers that attempt to prove the existence of God, and the arguments are so weak that my best guess at why they wrote them is that they were expected to. The penalties in past centuries for opposing Christianity have been brutal, and I can certainly see how they ended up at the conclusions they did. I guess my point is that using pure thought to probe the depths of the universe is simply not enough to find answers, and there aren't any answers for us in the physical realm either. Since there is no good evidence, I believe that we are not meant to know the deepest answers; not in life anyway. My religion is as real as anyone elses, and I think it would be nice if my system of beliefs were as respected as someone who calls themself Christian. I don't care if one other person in the world actually believes that I am right; all I am asking is that the first amendment protect my religious beliefs in the same way as it protects Christianity's.