Is religion not important in We're Alive?

[Gfresh]

Good evening again,

the world as we know it is about to end. People die or are devoured by zombies. But why is religion hardly a part of the show? I just curious, the zombie apocalypse is taken place in "God's own country." As an agnostic, I was always bewildered by the historically strongly rooted religious belief deep within the American society. Is it because none of the characters has a religious background / belief? Or is it rather hard to stick to religious beliefs/dogmas if they do not seem to be able to explain anymore what is going on in the world? For example, how can a Christian, Buddhist and so on cope with the situation without questioning his own faith?

There's many ways to look at it;

-For a start why assume that many or most of the characters should be theists in the first place? I can't speak for California but where I live (Sheffield UK) I don't know a single theist in my daily life, including family and friends. In many places theism is on the decline as society advances (some people see this as bad, some see it as a good thing).

-It could be that religion is yet to rear it's ugly (in a storyline sense) head. A loopy cult, holed up in a fortified church may provide an interesting element to the story. Maybe we'll even see divine/demonic intervention later on (ie the zombies are the work of the Devil and a few last survivors are Gods warriors, or something). Or even somebody relying on their faith to protect them and their group, ie Hershel & co. from The Walking Dead.

-It could just be that KC doesn't want to bring theism into it, for whatever reason. The internet is full of arguments about religion and faith, why risk alienating yourself from certain listeners?


There is a saying (often used by theists) that "there are no atheists in a fox hole". It's a load of crap, most atheists wouldn't just start believing in God (or gods) just because their life may be in danger, which is what I interpret your post as questioning - the life-threatening situation of a zombie apocalypse and nobody turning to religion (?)



As a side note, you describe yourself as agnostic (this term is commonly misused), gnosticism meaning with knowledge (I know there is/isn't a God) and agnosticism meaning without knowledge (I don't know if there is/isn't a God).
Agnosticism itself does not replace someone's status of belief or absence of belief, but runs parallel to it (agnosticism/gnosticism relates to position of knowledge while atheism/theism relates to position of belief) so I was just wondering are you an agnostic atheist or an agnostic theist?

(I was think about starting a similar thread BTW, good one )

[YetAnotherBloodyCheek]

In order to cut a long story short, I will put it this way: I try to be an open-minded rationalist. However, I am not able to proof religion right or wrong.

[Witch_Doctor]

I love how a simple line of dialogue can seem to have multiple meanings, especially when one puts a LOT of thought into it.

"I didn't fear death, or what might be on the other side if today was my last day. But that was then, this is now."

Fear of a punitive afterlife or 'unlife' as a zombie? Did Michael do something very sinful?
Or just story telling rhetoric?

[YetAnotherBloodyCheek]

I love how a simple line of dialogue can seem to have multiple meanings, especially when one puts a LOT of thought into it.

"I didn't fear death, or what might be on the other side if today was my last day. But that was then, this is now."

Fear of a punitive afterlife or 'unlife' as a zombie? Did Michael do something very sinful?
Or just story telling rhetoric?

Wow, nice one. Good question.

[Kc]

The only really characters who blatantly bring up any sort of religion are Glenn and Datu. So it's there, but not at the forefront. There's a few moments:

Glenn says "God works in mysterious ways"

and Datu:

"I was about to lead a group of people in prayer"
And there's a few other mentions of it with him where he openly says "Thank God"

Just pointing out a few.

[Robzombie]

I love how a simple line of dialogue can seem to have multiple meanings, especially when one puts a LOT of thought into it.

"I didn't fear death, or what might be on the other side if today was my last day. But that was then, this is now."

Fear of a punitive afterlife or 'unlife' as a zombie? Did Michael do something very sinful?
Or just story telling rhetoric?

I think it just means that life for Michael now is not the same as it was. His past experiences in the military and now a zombie apocalypse has probably made him realise that he has to do what has to be done, without any fear of what happens later. He can't be concerned anymore with any thought that he's committing "sin" when he has to look at someone and shoot them in the head. He has no time for that anymore.

[YetAnotherBloodyCheek]

BTW, have I already said that I *love* Fox News.