In a recent chat with the Scandalous Podcast, Gary Holt shared his thoughts on religion.
When asked if he is spiritual, the guitarist replied by saying:
“Oh, f*ck no [Laughs]. No, I’m an atheist. I do not believe at all. I’m not agnostic. I follow the science. If you really believe in God, you believe in some horrible f*cking sh*t, and you’ve self-edited out the worst of the Bible because in modern society, you obviously have to. I think it’s ridiculous.”
Holt continued:
“But at the same time, I have absolute respect and tolerance for those who do believe because you kind of have to. Ninety percent of my whole circle of life believes, like my parents, my mom and dad. I’m not gonna tell my mom she’s f*cking stupid or ‘you’re wrong.’ All I ever ask is that I’m allowed not to believe. And some people have a problem with that.”
Gary also said he keeps religion and politics off his Instagram to avoid fights. He once posted a meme about Jesus that upset people, so now he sticks to cats and guitars. He believes dividing people by beliefs benefits those in power. Despite his views, he respects others’ religious practices at events like weddings or family dinners.
Holt’s Earlier Words On Religion
This isn’t the first time the musician talked about religion. He told Metal Voice in 2021:
“Everybody pretty much knows I’m an atheist and I’m not a believer, but if I f*cking wrote off all those that were, I wouldn’t have a family. Most of my family believes in Jesus f*cking Christ. And I’m not gonna part ways with them because we share a different religious ideology. And I won’t over a political [ideology] either. Some of my best friends are completely different than me, and that’s okay. It’s not a bad thing. I don’t look at them as f*cking lesser people because we don’t agree on something. And a lot of time, if you take the time to discuss sh*t like f*cking humans, you’ll find that you actually can find middle ground on a lot of things.”
Holt will join Slayer in their reunion shows. The band will perform together for the first time in five years. Slayer will have a gig at Riot Fest on September 22 and at Louder Than Life on September 27.
You can watch his full interview below.