[AndyTheBear]

The proper definition of an Atheist is a person who has the belief that there is not God. But there are attempts by "Atheists" to redefine the word to simply mean those who lack a belief in God, or even those that lack a belief in the primary religion of their culture but may believe in another kind of God.

However the proper term for somebody without either a belief there is a God or a belief there is not a God is "agnostic". If we used the word "atheist" as another word meaning this, we would lose having a word for somebody who believed there is no God.

But why does it matter? Why do Atheists want the term atheist to include agnosticism? The reason is because Atheism is so damn hard to defend intellectually, and yet if they call themselves "agnostic" then openly mocking religion as stupid is harder for them to justify. So they need to equivocate on the term Atheist to mean either agnostic or what it really means, according to their current purpose.

[dr_lew]

My Webster's Seventh Tattered Collegiate Dictionary states it a little differently, but I think the difference is quite significant:

agnostic 1 : of or relating to the belief that the existence of any ultimate reality (as God) is unknown and prob. unknowable ... syn see ATHEIST

so ... ultimate reality ... unknowable . That's my takeaway.

[Gene Eric]

>> The reason is because Atheism is so damn hard to defend intellectually,

Atheists are idiots.