Themes: Religion

Religion or Faith is a recurring theme in The Walking Dead. It is characterized by a belief in a higher power and, usually, an afterlife.

Occurrences

Comic Series

• Hershel Greene is a strong Christian and believes the zombie apocalypse could be the '7 Years of Tribulation' described in the Bible but does not understand why God didn't take a Christian like himself to Heaven before the Apocalypse began. _{(Comic Series)}
• Andrew turns to religion to rid himself of his addiction to narcotics. He also believes he caused the apocalypse by praying to God to get sober, as the outbreak started the very next day, with Andrew being unable to acquire any more narcotics from that point on. _{(Comic Series)}
• Otis prays in his cell. _{(Issue 21)}
• Prior to the outbreak, Gabriel Stokes was a father at a church and maintains his faith. _{(Comic Series)}
• Andrea prays for Dale in Gabriel's church. _{(Issue 64)}
• Numerous Alexandrians are religious. _{(Comic Series)}
• Spencer Monroe prays for "strength to do what must be done". _{(Issue 108)}
• Earl Sutton is shown to be religious and dislikes Paul Monroe's nickname (Jesus), considering it blasphemous. _{(Issue 109)}
• Negan seems to believe in an afterlife, as he believes his wife is in Heaven, and wants to die so he can be with her when confronted by Maggie. _{(Issue 174)}
• During his rant, Sebastian claims that people almost view Rick as a god. _{(Issue 191)}

TV Series

• T-Dog drives a church van in an attempt at rescuing elderly people in the time between the walker outbreak and his first scene on the series. It is implied that he has Christian beliefs and takes them very seriously.
• Rick asks guidance from God at the same church, also stating that he was "never much a believer". _{(What Lies Ahead)}
• Glenn is seeing praying following the group's arrival on the farm. _{(Save the Last One)}
• Carl is seen at Sophia's grave, mourning, shortly before he insults Carol for believing that Sophia is in a better place, stating that Heaven does not exist and that she is an idiot for believing in it. _{(Judge, Jury, Executioner)}
• Hershel Greene mentions being Christian and says, "I can't profess to understand God's plan. Christ promised the Resurrection of the Dead. I just thought He had something a little different in mind." _{(Beside the Dying Fire)}
• Carl asks Carol if Patrick was a Catholic and Carol responded that Patrick stated he was a "practicing atheist." _(Infected)
• Hershel reads the bible to Maggie and Beth while they hold hands. _{(This Sorrowful Life)}
• Father Gabriel Stokes was once a priest of the church where he stayed and after the outbreak still maintains his faith and religion._(Strangers)
• Gabriel, Maggie, and Sasha have a prayer circle. _(Conquer)
• Carol turns to religion following her depression. _{(The Same Boat)}
• Many Alexandrians including Barbara, Kent and Bob Miller attend a local prayer circle in town. _{(Heads Up)}
• A few other Alexandrians are seen praying in the church when the herd invades the community, showing that even more residents are religious, such as, Anna and Tobin. _{(No Way Out)}
• A scene of Rick quoting the Hadith (serving as a flash-forward until the final time it was shown) is in multiple episodes. _{(Mercy, Honor, Wrath)}
• Siddiq is shown to be religious, as he believes that killing the walkers frees their souls. Also he quoted Quran a few times. _{(The King, the Widow, and Rick, Do Not Send Us Astray)}

Fear The Walking Dead

• Griselda Salazar is notably religious. _{(Season 1)}
• Celia Flores believes the infected are not dead, but at the next stage of life. _{(Season 2)}
• Efraín Morales was a priest before the apocalypse. _{(Season 3)}
• Jacob Kessner was a rabbi before the apocalypse, but began to lose his fate after the outbreak, finally turning to atheism once his congregation died. _{(Season 5)}
• Charlie starts to believe God sent her to Temple B'nai Israel to make it the group's new home, until Jacob dissuades her. _{(Season 5)}
• Sarah Rabinowitz reveals that she is Jewish. _{(Season 5)}

Video Game

• Irene was most likely deeply devout, as she kept repeating how "satanic" and "not Christian" the walkers are. _{(A New Day)}
• Ben can tell Lee that he has read the Bible he found in his room, implying that he's religious. _{(Long Road Ahead)}
• Kenny can state at the end of Episode 4 that he is a Christian man. (Determinant) _{(Around Every Corner)}
• Sophie and Minerva's symbolic graves can be seen with a crucifix. _{(Done Running)}
  • This also applies to the other graves dug in Ericson's Boarding School throughout the season 4, although it is unknown if these characters are religious/Christian.
• Tennessee believes in the afterlife. _{(Done Running)}
• Depending on player choice, Clementine can say she does, or doesn't believe in an afterlife. _{(Done Running)}

Novel Series

• Nick Parsons owned a bible and read it multiple times. _{(Rise of the Governor)}
• Nick states that the apocalypse is the Devil's way to make the dead stay on Earth. _{(Rise of the Governor)}
• Nick mentions that he is a Christian. _{(Rise of the Governor)}
• Jeremiah Garlitz is the leader of the Pentecostal People of God, a religious cult that believes all living humans must be eliminated. _{(Descent, Invasion)}
• One of the reasons Timothy Stinnot doesn't carry a gun is because he might be tempted to commit suicide if he was surrounded by walkers, and he was brought up to think that "suicide is a one-way ticket straight to hell". Although he admits that he is skeptical of this, he'd also like to hedge his bets. _{(Alone, Together)}

Trivia

• The crucifix is a symbol of Christianity.
• Afterlife is a belief of most religions. ^{(Islam,Christianity etc.)}