Guest wrote: If you know anything about Graffin, he wouldn't for a person into anything. He believes in free will, and desires.

Well, actually Greg doesn't believe in free will at all. He's rather in accordance with Will Provine (his thesis supervisor) on this topic.

This song is hilarious. I second tier, indifferent, it's totality a parody of Evangelicals. I've talked to a lot of them, and they all suggest "science hates us, math hate this, history hates us. So if you don't hate me, you're already one of us."

I think this song, like so many other Bad Religion songs, is about anti-conformity, in general. There's nothing in it that indicates any specific group, but the entire song is about someone (The "Us" that we are being told to come join.) attempting to recruit weak-minded people who's mindsets they can mold into something resembling their own.

In live at the palladium before playing this song greg simply says "The 3 most frightning words invented by any religion- come, join, us."

As a nihilist I very much like this song.To me this song is about trying to shove your beliefs down another's throat and make them believe what you believe. It's talking about religion and how all the religious people are out to conform everyone by changing them into their way of thinking.

I thought that this song was about cults untill greg announced on "Live at the Pallidum" that it was about religion. Although for Mormans, cult and religion are the same thing. But this always reminds me of a Boy Meets World Episode where Shawn almost joins a cult. Anyone remember?

Greg said, before they playd come join us in sweden -05 that "This is what every religion realy is about"

I believe that this song is about religion. All religions try to recruit new pepole to join them. "all we want to have is your small mind
turn it into one of our own kind" I believe that is saying that all relgions want to convert you. or have you come join them

According to Greg, it is a "cynical song about religion." That's how he introduced it at the show in Dallas.

for me, like many others is based around joining a group of people. Or more appropriatly , trying to force someone into think the same way as themselves.
The first part relates to no religion providing full answers to anything, but that you need a group of people who think the same. This is a general theme of the song.
Towards the end, the songs references the fact that if you are against one kind of group/religion/whatever then you belong to another group with contrary beliefs. You belong to this group either officially or unofficially, but you belong to it nonetheless.
For me, the song is anti-cults, this is probably because it is/was played a lot on Rant Radio (by Sean Kennedy), and they have very strong thoughts about Scientology, and this song seems to enforce their ideas. The whole scientologistical (?) viewpoint is cultist, not religious like they promote, and, many people claim they have been either abducted, or forced, to join scientology, so this strong bears a strong resemblence to that.

Like many of the broadsides this album levels at the American progressive movement the song can be applied to any ideology or belief set. But when you put them all together, they form a cohesive subtheme for the album. While the record as a whole is attacking American society ('the gray race'), almost half of it is occupied with a criticism of Graffin's own side.

To me, this song is just the perfect and objective description of what an ideology is, it could be by any side... notice that this song doesn't appoint exactly religion, punk or fascism. Any ideology or religion is well fitted there, and if you are fascist, you will thing for sure that this song is about punk or a left-winger ideal, and if you are punk, you will thing the opposite, that this is some kind of jeovah withnesses prayer.

There's one point that Graffin is making that makes this song not about organized religion or a cult, meaning one that's already out there. Graffin is using the same gimmicks that the other two use, but its more as his own kind of cult if you will. 'The world hates us, well we hate them too.' What kind of religion or cult would use this to get more people to join them? Graffin is turning the tables on the issue. Instead of join one of them 'come join us' it makes sense.... its all a parody of everything else that goes on in this messed up society.

In my eyes this song is absolutely about organized religion (maybe one in particular), and it's relentless quest to recruit more members and become the most widespread (and wealthy) organization on the planet.

The song explains how the church exploits people's fears and thirst for knowledge by feeding them answers which are too good to be true. 'So you say you gotta know why the world goes 'round,' and 'your scared shitless because evil abounds' are two examples of this point.

The lyrics also show how the church recruits people by telling them how much they care about them, and are only trying to 'save' them out of compassion. 'Don't you see the trouble that most people are in and that they just want you for their own advantage but I swear to you we're different from all of them' is a good example of this point. 'I can tell you are looking for a way to live where truth is determined by consensus full of codified arbitrary directives' is the line in the song that, in my opinion at least, proves the song to be about organized religion.

Truth determined by consensus? That very much describes how most religions see the world (again in my opinion), disregard any scientific or alternative views and facts, and just believe what most other people believe, right or wrong. I also think that codified arbitrary directives fully describes the rules and dogmas that exist within organized religion.

Finally, the last line may be an attack on the blind followers of religion by Greg, explaining that if your not independent, self-contented, revolutionary intellectual, brave, strong and scholarly then you are already a conformist, follower.

The song appears to be about a cult (maybe even organized religion) that claims to have all the answers and therefore you should, 'come join us.' The line 'looking for more stalwart clones' implies that this group is looking for more people to become just like them so I'd say that it's written from the perspective of a cult or religion.

Graffin is telling the person (but in reality he is telling everyone) that, if your not comfortable with conformity, then come join us, us meaning the punks, rejects, freaks, or any other oddities out there that don't fit in. When you first hear the song, it sounds like Graffin is trying to not force you, but lure you into the idea that were better then they are. That's where I think the parody comes into play. If you know anything about Graffin, he wouldn't for a person into anything. He believes in free will, and desires. It's up to you, us or them. Really, the meaning of the song is, you choose. Do you like the trendy life style? Or is that not for you? Well if it isn't, we have have that alternative life style for you to try out.

A satiric song about the big industries and organizations trying to acquire followers through cheap propaganda directed to the weakest members of society who have not yet found their own identity. They claim to be different, but some of them are just corrupt, terrorist societies that have brainwashed their ignorant members. It's pretty much about how low these people are to target other deteriorated people to follow them in stupid missions of quest for power, money, and land. You think they are really giving you the answers, but they're just eating away your ideas and identity so you can become another senseless clone that will follow them wherever they want.