You should define "hard core atheist" first.  Is hard core atheist having "little or no tolerance for the religious population?" 

I have tolerance for theists, not theism.  Theism is a sore, theists are simply the host for the sore.  I would however have no problem with calling myself a "hard core atheist" in conversation.

I don't want to interject anymore meaning into this "hard core atheist" than I already have.  It is up to each individual to claim his/her position.    (Do you cringe at the sound of pray or religious dialog in a public place of course?  Religion is a damn laxative for me, as it irritates the shit out of me.)  Even at the funeral for my parents, years ago, I sat in the back of the church.  During prayer I was looking around, checking out the congregation for any other onlookers.  I am almost inattentive at these functions.  The same is true for weddings.

I don't personally care for the term.  Given the choice, I don't self identify as a hard core atheist.  I identify as a materialist and a rationalist, which pretty much necessitates atheism.  Though I am a core member on an atheist website, you'll notice that most of my writing is science and logic.  It's the same in my day to day life.  When atheism comes up, it's usually as a side note to rationalism.

To me, "hard core atheism" implies that atheism is an end goal.  I could give a rat's ass if everyone was atheist but they still believed in astrology, crystal healing, ghosts, ufo abductions, global warming hoax conspiracies and George Bush's integrity.  I want everyone to be rational, and the first step in that direction for most Americans is giving up theism.  I consider that a step in the right direction, not an end goal.

As a fellow Atheist,I've found that if I stopped following these non-thinking Theist in my Family ,I'm a much Happier person,like when my MOM died earlier this year,I told her before she passed away,that I just could not find it in myself too go too the church services,but that I do want to be with the rest of the Family after the Mass,and wouldn't you know it,at the restraunt my Aunt who is very religious says to me "where were you,we missed you at the service,etc,etc.And then a few years back when my sister got married in a church, I just simply sent her a card for the occasion,and she still ignores me,so what was to be her special day,turned out to be a day that she thinks of as the day that her Brother refused to be a part of her Happiness,it's like Christopher Hitchens says Religion Poisons Everything

I,am god as you ,Thanks for the Links,the one with Carl Sagan,was really good.But the first one tells you about all of this so-called wisdom,but in reality,Buddhism is just another RELIGION of Bullshit. Check out ; www.michaelparenti.org click on "Articles" and then scroll down too:Friendly Feudalism:The Tibet Myth and then check out his notes and sources.and then there is this couple from Germany who were devout Buddhist traveled with the Dali Lama,and they're trying to get their book published in the USA but for now it's being suppressed,I forget the exact title of it but its something like this "The Shadow of the Dalai Lama":Sexuality,Majic and Politics in Tibetan Buddhism, by Victor & Victoria Trimondi.And I almost forgot,today I picked up a good book on Religion,it's title is "Killing the Buddha:a Heretic's Bible"by Peter Manseau & Jeff Sharlet.I only got a chance to glimpse it,but it lookes like a good read.

I take it to the religious as and when the situation arises. I could certainly be more active, so I'm hard-core to a degree.

Haven't burnt down a church/mosque/temple yet.

Maybe half of this membership are hard core, the rest being somewhat atheist.  Hope so anyway.  I thought a moderator here might be able to give us a percentage.

I was pretty serious about atheism when I was getting over being raised Christian, but now I consider myself a freethinker who just happens to be an atheist because that's what makes the most sense to me.  I think my attitude towards promoting atheism is pretty similar to that expressed by Hambydammit... it's a step in the right direction, but it's just one aspect of a much larger problem.  My objection is not directed at the believers or even the beliefs, but the faulty thinking that leads to the beliefs.

I like hard core. I'm an atheist. I reckon that makes me a hard core atheist.

Ha ha! I crack my shit up.

 I'd really be interested to see what people would come up with to fill the religion gap. Not everyone is interested in science so I don't think we can just say that.

Pff. Whatever. You're totally hardcore. And bitchin'. So naturally, since you're an atheist AND you're hard core, I think we can all agree that you're a hard core atheist.

QED, bitches.

Fucking small-minded cowardly asshole vacuous simpering spineless snake-in-the-grass uncle-fucking limp-dick weasel-stuffing douchebag shit-eating bitches.

Well of course that may be easy for you to say, and you're preaching to the choir here, but the church is a very large part of many peoples' lives. Just think of all the towns in which the church is the unifying social factor. I think just deleting religion would definitely have a social impact. I'm just interested in knowing how it would play out. Even some atheists go to Universalist Unitarian churches. I think a fair chunk on here spend more time doing atheism-related stuff (debating religion, studying holy texts, discussing on the forums, etc) than religious people do with their religion. If religion was deleted, we certainly wouldn't be doing it. Of course we can just fill the gap with science, philosophy, painting, or badminton, but it would definitely cause a change. Many things we may fill the gap with may be solitary. If religion was deleted, would we see a large shift toward isolation in outer ring suburbs and rural areas? Would a new social vehicle take its place to bring local communities together? This particular community wouldn't even exist without religion.

You didn't specify whether you meant a gap experienced by the individual or by society as a whole. I was addressing the former.

Discussing the latter is completely hypothetical - religion, if it is to disappear, will do so only gradually. I am living at the moment in a society where this is in fact happening and I assume the model is pretty standard. Bit by bit the institutions of the religious "authorities" (their word not mine) begin to lose cohesion and influence, and in terms of membership experience a split that is not reflected in the superficial observation of the faith in question. More and more people abandon the tenets of the faith but persist in maintaining the superficial structure of the organisation, even to the point of attending "worship", but this too inevitably declines.

When it comes to the social and charitable activities which the religious organisation has unilaterally initiated and taken credit for, these continue by and large but against a background of disassociative gestures which in time transform these off-shoots into secular units performing more or less the same function but without the "god" bit attached. They are, after all, expressions of a much deeper human requirement than religion anyway.

When it comes to the "WOW-factor" element of what religion provides for people who are handicapped from enjoying similar experiences based on their rationality alone, this is something that individuals themselves seem to be quite able to sort out for themselves. Some (a minority) will simply switch to another superstition to replace the crutch taken away from them. The vast majority however seem perfectly capable of reassessing their relationship with superstition and simply carry on - like the church-sponsored bodies - doing the same thing but without "god" in the equation.

No gap to be filled, in other words. Just a reality check and then business as usual when it comes to socialising, humanitarian work etc. But with a LOT less bitterness about it.

John, nice to see you posting but I have to disagree... the RRS responds to all irrational claims - the whole god belief thing just happens to be the largest.  What if everyone today woke up and realized there was no evidence for the existance of god and then sat down with the paper and read their horoscope... my point being, religion isn't the sole objective of *this* community.

Sure the community wouldn't become uselss, there are still plenty of other irrational things to battle. I was just saying if this whole god thing wouldn't have been an issue I don't think this website would be here. Maybe if people started acting when their fortune cookies told them to do bad things (which would be scary).