I was brought up with religion, having attended over ten years of after school religious schooling. I was Bar Mitzvahed in Israel (at Masada), attended religious services, and observed religious holidays.
When I went away to college I did not know who I was but by the time college was over and I subsequently overcame a serious medical problem, I started to realize that I was agnostic. Coming "out of the closet" as agnostic upset some in my immediate family at first but they eventually learned to just accept me for who I was.
With my agnosticism came self esteem, more self awareness, more tolerance, more patience, more compassion, and more kindness.
Agnosticism shaped my moral values. It allowed me to think for myself. Thus I often will adopt a position that is shared by a Christian or shared by a Muslim or shared by a Jew or shared by a Buddhist because my moral values require me to seek out that which is best and true.
My moral values necessitate that I dig down to the deepest realms of my conscience and reflect on whether a course of action is correct.
My moral values tell me that adults should have the right to engage in almost any activity so long as that behavior doesn't pose a reasonable risk of harm to another person. That means millions of you will do things I've never done nor will do.
My moral values tell me that children should never be hit by adults although I'm not going to throw someone in jail for smacking a child on the behind.
My moral values tell me that women are the equal of men and that people as a whole are born with the same collective potential regardless of skin color, gender, or nationality.
My moral values tell me that agnosticism should not be forced down people's throats in public schools and neither should religion.
My moral values question the existence of god but don't preclude the possibility.
My moral values tell me that no book was ever written by god or is the word of god but that books that claim to represent god do have some good in them.
My moral values tell me that indeed we should put people behind bars for serious crimes but that we must do everything possible to make sure no innocent person goes to jail.
My moral values require of me to make the world a better place for the next generation and that means protecting the environment, better schools, better health care, and a pro middle class tax code.
My moral values tell me to question evidence and try to gather as many facts as possible to reach the most salient conclusion or course of action.
Not being restrained by any artificial script, I get to think out problems. I can simultaneously believe that abortion should be legal, abortion should be rare, contraceptives should be available in some cases but not all cases, analyze those instances, support intact and dilation when the mother's health or life is in danger but not I and D if the fetus can live on its own, and make other distinctions along the way.
As an agnostic I am a zillion times more moral than when I was "religious." This applies to me personally and I'm certainly cognizant that there are millions of religious people with values equal to and superior to mine.
Very often, those in the media will belittle agnostics or atheists as void of values. Speaking for myself, I will not hesitate to tell you that people like me are millions of times more moral than the James Dobsons, Pat Robertsons', and Jerry Falwells' of the world. Yes, agnostics have moral values.
But this is my story, my morals, and my conscience. I'm proud of it.