Gary Holt of Slayer Has Choice Words for Religious People: “You Believe in Some Horrible F*cking Sh*t”
I’m not a very religious person. But I also don’t care that much if someone else is. In the immortal words of Devo, “Believe what you want to; nothing’s really true.” But some atheists and agnostics get really upset about other people believing in god, and sometimes that can be really obnoxious. Other times, though, it can be fucking hilarious. Exodus and Slayer guitarist Gary Holt’s take on religion may be mean towards religious people, but at least it’s mean and funny at the same time.
In a recent interview with the Scandalous Podcast (that was transcribed by Blabbermouth), Holt was asked if he was spiritual at all, and the guitarist found the question funny, and he had some very choice words for the religious:
“Oh, fuck 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 fucking shit, and you’ve self-edited out the worst of the Bible because in modern society, you obviously have to. I think it’s ridiculous. 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 fucking 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.”
The first half of that quote goes really hard, and then it feels like he realizes he’s potentially gone too far and he seems to walk some of it back in the second half. But, once you’ve been a guitarist for Slayer, I don’t think anyone’s really expecting you to respect religion in the first place.
If you want to celebrate your non-belief with Holt at the upcoming Slayer reunion performances, here are the festivals they’re playing at:
Sep 20-22 – Chicago, IL – Riot Fest [Tickets]
Sep 27 – Louisville, KY – Louder Than Life [Tickets]
Oct 10 – Sacramento, CA – Aftershock [Tickets]
