Quotes by Greg Graffin

Countries with a high percentage of nonbelievers are among the freest, most stable, best-educated, and healthiest nations on earth. When nations are ranked according to a human-development index, which measures such factors as life expectancy, literacy rates, and educational attainment, the five highest-ranked countries -- Norway, Sweden, Australia, Canada, and the Netherlands -- all have high degrees of nonbelief. Of the fifty countires at the bottom of the index, all are intensly religious. The nations with the highest homicide rates tend to be more religious; those with the greatest levels of gender equality are the least religious. These associations say nothing about whether atheism leads to positive social indicators or the other way around. But the idea that atheists are somehow less moral, honest, or trustworthy have been disproven by study after study.

For me, the existence of nonexistence of God is a nonissue.

The past is dead, lets focus on tomorrow instead.

It may sound peculiar coming from an old punk rocker, but I strongly believe that governmental policies are the only viable way to administer our long-term success as a species. I guess you could say that my attitude of fuck the government is still intact. But its more a criticism of lousy government than a statement of nihilism. The truth is, when it comes to environmental protection, the government is the best way to enact a new social awareness by establishing laws by which industries have to abide.

Life is never static. Despite catastrophic tragedies, life has persisted in evolving new varieties of unimaginable forms. I find comfort in the narrative of evolutionary history.

The vocal arrangements are a big part of the formula for a Bad Religion song - layered harmonies and background vocals. So when I start to describe the elements of Bad Religions sound, it starts to sound like a Christmas choir.

The thrill of science is the process. Its a social process. Its a process of collective discovery. Its debate, its experimentation and its verification of claims that might be false. Its the greatest foundation for a society.

Ideologically, the pursuit of science is not that different from the ideology that goes into punk rock. The idea of challenging authority is consistent with what I have been taught as a scientist.

My science teachers always encouraged their classes to go out and discover something because all scientific endeavors depend on observation and experimentation. Through such pursuits, anyone can find something new to science, and if its truly novel, the entire edifice of science might have to be restructured.

Science is the first expression of punk, because it doesnt advance without challenging authority. It doesnt make progress without tearing down what was there before and building upon the structure.

I definitely was attracted to similar things in punk and science. They both depend on a healthy dose of skepticism.

Im saying that there were many great naturalists before Darwins time who were very pious people and who knew more about nature than most of us. These were great naturalists people I would admire for their knowledge of natural science given the time.

I wouldnt say theres a need for the Spice Girls, but Id say theres a place for the Spice Girls. Theres certainly a place for them, but you dont promote the Spice Girls at the expense of promoting what I think are good role models for girls. You need to create some kind of equality.

In the family, in interpersonal relationships, even in friendship, faith is tremendously important. If you have a partner who you believe is a good person, then it is your duty to have faith in them until the end, despite the fact that they might have done some bad things. And you have to support and believe in your children.

Ive written almost 200 songs with Bad Religion. No matter where you look in our history, the focus has been trying to instill some of these disturbing realities about the world, some of the implications of evolution into an artistic format that can be interpreted by people who may never study evolution.

Bad Religion has never been about criticizing people who are Christian. But weve always been about pointing out the irony and contradictions in Christian theology and the more extreme versions of Christians that seek to challenge modern secularism.

You can look at Bad Religion, and, really, almost everything Ive ever done was an exercise in creativity. Ive always had a desire to challenge and question authority, and thats where the fire inside comes from. I challenged authority out of a desire to make things better, not to be nihilistic about it.

If you go back far enough and get a wider enough picture of history, we have let go of many things that follow a religious narrative. We dont burn witches anymore. Most people would consider that barbaric. We dont sacrifice human beings, which was a religious act practiced by numerous cultures on this planet.

The naturalist worldview is a good way to feel grounded and feel part of something that isnt based on fairy tales. Its based on observable facts in the human and in the biological history of the planet. I think that can be a source for comfort.

The thread of culture that runs through the entire history of punk is also a dedication to challenging the authoritarian.