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 i...”

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

“I've always been on a quest to use science in an artful way.”

“Unfortunately, the average guy on the street believes that studying evolution leads to atheism.”

“We delude ourselves into believing that morality comes from somewhere else, whereas in reality we behave as we've been told to behave.”

“One of the things that all religions have is a narrative of doomsday. There has to be some kind of overarching fear of the future. If there wasn't, none of the religions could invoke this im...”

“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, anyo...”

“I guess rock stars are role models for the kids who listen to that music. My role models have all been geologists - you know, the guys who are doing fieldwork until they're 70.”

“I got interested in palaeontology and vertebrate history - sparked by books on human evolution - then vertebrate evolution. Studying with palaeontologists kindled my interest in fieldwork.”

“I have great hope and faith, but it's a humanistic faith based in facts; you have to believe that facts exist. We can all arrive at the same facts if we engage in the process of experimentat...”

“I'm trying to champion the naturalist's worldview and show it's not as heathen as most religious people would make it out to be.”

“The trick is: how do you talk about natural selection without implying the rigidity of law? We use it as almost an active participant, almost like a god. In fact, you could substitute the wo...”

“Almost everyone shuts down when science becomes too technical; you've got to infuse it with entertainment and storytelling to make it effective. From high school on, science is taught in a v...”

“Naturalism teaches one of the most important things in this world. There is only this life, so live wonderfully and meaningfully.”

“I'm saying that there were many great naturalists before Darwin's time who were very pious people and who knew more about nature than most of us. These were great naturalists; people I would...”

“I don't bill myself as an atheist but as a naturalist. Naturalism is a belief system. A lot of scientists bristle at that. We all have to believe we can find the truth. Evidence is my guide....”

“A fossil is so powerful. It's moving. This is my ancestor. The naturalist is moved by the fossil... not the cross.”

“The naturalist worldview is a good way to feel grounded and feel part of something that isn't based on fairy tales. It's based on observable facts in the human and in the biological history...”

“I call myself a naturalist as opposed to an atheist, but there are different styles. Some people just like to be close to nature. And some people actually worship nature, which is too wishy-...”

“I bill myself as a naturalist because if you say you're a naturalist, it gives people a conversation point to talk about what you actually do believe in, instead of when you say you're an at...”