Holden says he is an atheist? Is he? Defend your answer.

(P.137-138): “…thousands of them – singing “Come All Ye Faithful” like mad. Big deal. It’s supposed to be religious as hell, I know, and very pretty and all, but I can’t see anything religious or pretty, for God’s sake, about a bunch of actors carrying crucifixes all over the stage. […] I said old Jesus probably would’ve puked if He could see it – all those fancy costumes and all. Sally said I was a sacrilegious atheist. I probably am.”

Holden doesn’t see what the “big deal” is about “a bunch of actors carrying crucifixes all over the stage,” and he claims that Jesus wouldn’t appreciate all of “those fancy costumes and all” because Holden himself doesn’t appreciate it. The only positive thing Holden has to say about religion in this passage is related to Allie. Holden thinks that “the thing Jesus really would’ve liked would be the guy that plays the kettle drums in the orchestra” because that’s the only thing he and Allie used to enjoy. Holden criticized anything religious in the show that didn’t have to do with Allie.