I am by no means a religious person. In fact, were I to step into a church at this very moment, I’d likely burst into flames for defiling consecrated grounds. I was raised Protestant, am agnostic at best, and believe wholeheartedly that religion needs to get the hell out of our schools and government. Practice whatever you want to, but practice what you preach. The BS about “love thy neighbor” gets pretty old when I turn on my television and see religious figures hate mongering against those of different faiths.
This morning, perusing the CNN website between my local paper and MSNBC, The New York Times, Perez Hilton, and Food Porn Daily, I came across this blog/article by John Blake:
The “Zombie Theology” Behind the Walking Dead” (not to be confused with AMC’s The Walking Dead)
The blog, for those of you too lazy to read “all dem long werds,” discusses humanity’s interest in zombies in the sense of religion. “…zombie stories grapple with common religious themes: the end of the world, resurrection and the nature of the human soul.”
Interesting. I’d never really thought of it that way before. Where religion is concerned, I am undoubtedly immediately uncomfortable. We’re talking about peoples’ faith, something that is rooted so deeply that almost nothing can change it. There is no logic or practicality in religion. There is only a very strong belief. These beliefs can become so strong, that logic, facts, and practicality can be thrown out the window if they don’t align with a person’s religious beliefs. I am the definition of logical and practical in most areas.
So, with my zombies on the line, I panicked. Was my undead world about to come crashing down, into one giant pile of allegorical Jesus-y corpses?
Thank Buddha, the Flying Spaghetti Monster, or whomever you choose… NO!
In fact, the article discusses how all of zombie lure, while invoking elements of it, directly opposes religion. While the fear of losing one’s soul and giving in to our more animalistic desires in a very violent way, the idea of an apocalypse, and resurrection are all there, the bigger themes in religion are not. There is no solace in God or “a realm of morals” in the zombie world. There is no redemption, no forgiveness. There is only the dead and you, with no God to save you and no moral guidelines to tell you what to do and what not to do.
“It is you versus them, and the more of an anti-zombie zealot you are, the better for all concerned,” University of Cincinnati English professor Rebecca Borah says. “Take them out as fast as you can at all costs because – former loved ones or not – they are the damned and you don’t want to catch it from them.”
And so, my dedication to the Church of the Undead remains intact. What do you think? How do you feel about the religious implications in zombie lure? What do you think about the opposition to religion it also holds?
thezomblog 