Anarchy Evolution: Faith, Science, and Bad Religion in a World Without God »

Greg Graffin was born in Madison, Wisconsin, and is the lead vocalist and songwriter of the legendary punk band Bad Religion, which he cofounded in Los Angeles in 1980. Graffin obtained his PhD in zoology at Cornell University. He has served as a lecturer in life sciences and paleontology at UCLA. He splits his time between Ithaca, New York, and Los Angeles.

Most people know Greg Graffin as the lead singer of the punk band Bad Religion, but few know that he also received a PhD from Cornell University and teaches evolution at the University of California at Los Angeles. In Anarchy Evolution, Graffin argues that art and science have a deep connection. As an adolescent growing up when "drugs, sex, and trouble could be had on any given night," Graffin discovered that the study of evolution provided a framework through which he could make sense of the world.

In this provocative and personal book, he describes his own coming of age as an artist and the formation of his naturalist worldview on questions involving God, science, and human existence. While the battle between religion and science is often displayed in the starkest of terms, Anarchy Evolution provides fresh and nuanced insights into the long-standing debate about atheism and the human condition. It is a book for anyone who has ever wondered if God really exists.

1 The Problem with Authority 1

2 Making Sense of Life 21

3 The False Idol of Natural Selection 51

4 The False Idol of Atheism 91

5 Tragedy: The Construction of a Worldview 117

6 Creativity, Not Creation 141

7 Where Faith Belongs 181

8 Believe Wisely 209

9 A Meaningful Afterlife 237

Acknowledgments 253

Notes 257