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Religion in the walking dead(Spoilers)

CazabubuCazabubu
edited May 2014 in The Walking Dead
Ok so i am possibly dabbling in a very sensitive issue here but...lets talk Religion in TWDG;
(i wont mark the post as containing spoilers for the sake of people who want to come back and discuss this matter)

Let me start off by why i decided to make this thread:
1)In S01E02 Ben explains to the group that no matter how you die if the brain isn't destroyed you will turn into a walker,one of the choices you have to say is something along the lines of "God help us"
2)Clementine in S02E02 Thanks 'God' for finding the Can of beans.
3)As we draw closer to the ending of EP.1(S2) Pete says:"Jesus marry and Joseph"

My question is:
How can the character we interact with(and play as) still believe in God after everything that has happened?

To be honest i was kind of suprised that Clementine even said the word "God"

Before you post(if you even will) remember that i am not here to support or bash religion,i actually found this to be an interesting topic to Discuss...

What do you guys think?
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Comments

  • WalkingdeadDanielleWalkingdeadDanielle
    Sometimes, i think people just use the words as an expression, not because they believe. :)
  • Clayton_BoylanClayton_Boylan
    Well, I think Carver and all his buddies were part of a new form of Cheondoism. I don't really care about people's religion so I wouldn't really know, as long as religion leaves me alone, I'm fine with it.
  • CazabubuCazabubu
    Yeah i forgot to include that in my post :)
    WalkingdeadDanielle posted: »

    Sometimes, i think people just use the words as an expression, not because they believe. :)

  • Clayton_BoylanClayton_Boylan
    Yeah, I'm an Atheist and every now and then, I'll yell out, "Jesus!"
    WalkingdeadDanielle posted: »

    Sometimes, i think people just use the words as an expression, not because they believe. :)

  • OnmensOnmens
    edited May 2014
    There's also the option to say "God bless you, alright?" to the girl in episode 1 before she shoots herself. But that was more for her benefit, seeing as she seemed to be very religious.

    But anyway, as the others have said, they are just expressions. It's up to the player if it has any meaning or not.
  • deleted_kvu58h8z1228894deleted_kvu58h8z1228894
    edited May 2014
    I am not an antitheist, but I would like to note that in Long Road Ahead, it is revealed that Ben Paul reads the bible. When Lee asks Ben for some chalk, Ben says that he doesn't play with it and that he usually has his thoughts and reads a bible he found in his room. Just providing an additional instance of a religious reference.
  • popleepoplee
    Your thread is really interesting and I agree with Walkingdanielle.

    In 400 days Dee will tell Leland that she can't believe that he is still religious after everything that happened with the world.

    In Pete's case he mentioned Jesus's family so he must religious.

    And if you don't save Alvin Clementine will tell Rebecca that he is still watching over her confirming that she is religious.

    I think that believing in god in an apocalypse is a good thing.It shows that how strong the characters have faith in him and after life.
  • Clayton_BoylanClayton_Boylan
    edited May 2014
    Yeah, I could see Ben as being a religious type.
    deleted_kvu58h8z1228894 posted: »

    I am not an antitheist, but I would like to note that in Long Road Ahead, it is revealed that Ben Paul reads the bible. When Lee asks Ben fo

  • AWESOMEOAWESOMEO Banned
    edited May 2014
    It's what they hold on to, their hope, god is all they have left.

    People need something to believe in, even if it isn't real, they need to know someone "up there" is watching over them, it's psychological.

    And it's a way of speech anyway, I even say "Jesus christ" even though I'm not Christian.
  • popleepoplee
    Before Carver's death his lines were off to me 'cause he sounded like Comstok from Bioshock.
    Clayton_Boylan posted: »

    Well, I think Carver and all his buddies were part of a new form of Cheondoism. I don't really care about people's religion so I wouldn't really know, as long as religion leaves me alone, I'm fine with it.

  • Clayton_BoylanClayton_Boylan
    edited May 2014
    I think maintaining your faith in an apocalypse is incredibly helpful with your own morale, but I think that you should also place some faith with your group/family/friends and yourself.
    poplee posted: »

    Your thread is really interesting and I agree with Walkingdanielle. In 400 days Dee will tell Leland that she can't believe that he is

  • Mr. MasamuneMr. Masamune
    edited May 2014
    I don't think there's much religion worth discussing in the game. Random religious exclamations mean nothing. I'm an atheist and I don't even think twice of using religious curses of various sorts. "Jesus fucking christ" or "Goddammit" or "go to hell" or the like. If anything, such exclamations come easier to me than they would a believer, since I don't give a crap about taking the lord's name in vain or any such thing.

    The only overtly religious character we've seen to date is Leland from 400 days. If you wait long enough in their fight, he'll chide Dee for using the lord's name in vain or some such, at which point Dee attacks him for still being a believer in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. Otherwise, the topic doesn't come up.
  • Mr. MasamuneMr. Masamune
    edited May 2014
    Just because he reads a Bible doesn't mean he's religious. It could just mean he doesn't have any other reading material.

    I have the Bible, the Quran, the Zend Avesta and the Dao De Jing on my Kindle. It doesn't mean I'm a Christian, Jew, Muslim, Zoroastrian or Daoist. It just means I want to know more about what those faiths believe in. If I had nothing else to read but a Bible, I'd read it every day without believing a word.
    deleted_kvu58h8z1228894 posted: »

    I am not an antitheist, but I would like to note that in Long Road Ahead, it is revealed that Ben Paul reads the bible. When Lee asks Ben fo

  • gimmeseason2gimmeseason2
    I'm an Atheist and this doesn't bother me. I often say "bless you" when somebody sneezes even though I don't mean to, it just comes naturally. I doubt there are many people left that still believe in a God that will let all of this happen in the first place.
  • OzzieMonkeyOzzieMonkey
    Well, here are two possibilities that I can think of:
    Maybe they have lost their faith and just use the word 'God' as an expression (it happens IRL, the word is so ingrained into our society that sometimes it's just used casually without any religious context)
    If there are those who still believe, my understanding would be that they would view the outbreak as some form of test thrust upon them by whatever deity they worship
    I've said in the past that I refuse to discuss my own religious persuasion, and I still stand by that, but in terms of discussing theories on why people are behaving in a certain manner within the confines of a fictional story, that's just my two cents
  • CazabubuCazabubu
    Im glad you find it interesting ^^
    i totally forgot about that option if you dont save Alvin that you can say that to Rebecca :P Thanks for pointing it out
    poplee posted: »

    Your thread is really interesting and I agree with Walkingdanielle. In 400 days Dee will tell Leland that she can't believe that he is

  • ShaneWalshShaneWalsh
    There hasn't been much mentioned in the game about peoples beliefs and religion, probably because like you say it is a sensitive issue to some and it is best to be left out.
  • Robert MorganRobert Morgan
    edited May 2014
    That's something I always found a little endearing about Leland. If you'd still believe in God after a world-shattering catastrophe, people would think you're either incredibly stupid, or incredibly ballsy. I'm in the latter category.

    Mind you, some individuals of faith could interpret the apocalypse as PROOF of God's existence. Divine payback for centuries of Mankind generally behaving like an asshole, or what-have-you.

    Hell, if the dead were walking the earth, I'd be ready to consider the possibility of a supernatural origin. It's not like anybody else in the WALKING DEAD universe has cooked up a decent scientific theory yet.
    Mr. Masamune posted: »

    I don't think there's much religion worth discussing in the game. Random religious exclamations mean nothing. I'm an atheist and I don't eve

  • deleted_kvu58h8z1228894deleted_kvu58h8z1228894
    edited May 2014
    Agreed. I was generalizing. As an atheist, who reads the Bible for its historical value, I take my words back.
    Mr. Masamune posted: »

    Just because he reads a Bible doesn't mean he's religious. It could just mean he doesn't have any other reading material. I have the Bi

  • KennysucksKennysucks Banned
    At the motor in, at one point when Ben is doing watch, i believe in episode 3 he mentions that he was reading the bible
  • Robert MorganRobert Morgan
    edited May 2014
    IMO, Carver's philosophy sounded more like a Gestapo officer's version of ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES, with a little sprinkling of cut-throat capitalism added for good measure. (Intolerance for weakness and incompetence, sharp division of what human society would consider as "winners" and "losers.")

    Honestly I'd prefer to deal with zombies than that kind of person.
    Clayton_Boylan posted: »

    Well, I think Carver and all his buddies were part of a new form of Cheondoism. I don't really care about people's religion so I wouldn't really know, as long as religion leaves me alone, I'm fine with it.

  • syxh87hsyxh87h
    Clementine is a Jew
  • Mr. MasamuneMr. Masamune
    edited May 2014
    Crap, I nearly forgot. If you aren't on Kenny's good side when you ask him to help you rescue Clementine, he'll preface his hesitancy by saying he's 'a Christian man.' Not that he ever shows much sign of it outside of that, aside from his aversion to suicide.

    On that subject, the lady who kills herself in Season 1 Episode 1 says 'It's not Christian!' about the prospect of becoming a walker and calls walkers 'satanic.' She apparently is not aware that killing yourself also isn't particularly Christian.

    So we've got three characters who identify as Christians: Leland, Kenny, and suicide lady who doesn't understand her own religious beliefs.
  • Clayton_BoylanClayton_Boylan
    Same here. Fuck those people.
    Robert Morgan posted: »

    IMO, Carver's philosophy sounded more like a Gestapo officer's version of ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES, with a little sprinkling of cut-throat c

  • Clayton_BoylanClayton_Boylan
    I have the Quran, English version, and even though I'm not religious I plan on learning Arabic just to read it how it was meant to be read.
    deleted_kvu58h8z1228894 posted: »

    Agreed. I was generalizing. As an atheist, who reads the Bible for its historical value, I take my words back.

  • BigBlindMaxBigBlindMax Banned
    I think she understood just fine. Her choices were a.) Turn into a creature she sees as an affront to god, or b.) headshot herself. It's quite literally a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation.
    Mr. Masamune posted: »

    Crap, I nearly forgot. If you aren't on Kenny's good side when you ask him to help you rescue Clementine, he'll preface his hesitancy by say

  • BigBlindMaxBigBlindMax Banned
    A lot of non-religious English speakers still use religious invocations (thank god, bless you, etc) because of social norms or force of habit. Same with a lot of other cultures. In arabic, phrases like alhamdulillah (praise be to allah) and in-shaa'allah (if allah wills it) are a part of the language.
  • Regi_Regi_
    I use Jesus and God in my slurs all the time and I am completely atheist. I guess it's just one of those things.
  • OhyoupokedmeOhyoupokedme
    edited May 2014
    If you also notice, sometimes it's a capital "G" and sometimes it's a lowercase "g" depending on which character is speaking. At least, I'm pretty sure.

    Like, I'm pretty sure when Clem, Lee, and Ken use God's name in vain, it's capital.
  • CazabubuCazabubu
    Kenny swears alot while the swear word having a correlation to religion
    Like: "God Damnit!" And such....
    Ohyoupokedme posted: »

    If you also notice, sometimes it's a capital "G" and sometimes it's a lowercase "g" depending on which character is speaking. At least, I'm pretty sure. Like, I'm pretty sure when Clem, Lee, and Ken use God's name in vain, it's capital.

  • CazabubuCazabubu
    Yeah...in hebrew alot of people use words like i swear by god,i swear by the bible...so help me god....but they dont really mean it(atleast i think they dont)
    BigBlindMax posted: »

    A lot of non-religious English speakers still use religious invocations (thank god, bless you, etc) because of social norms or force of habi

  • MrLeeMrLee Banned
    Look at me I use the word God every day and on this forum and I don't believe in him
  • Kirbinator93PCKirbinator93PC
    I mean if anything there is a LACK of religion in the games. They say God a few times but as others have said God does not ultimately mean religious. People say it for emphasis. No one is ever praying or doing a religious exercise so I have never consciously thought of the religious aspect in the game.
  • Alex452Alex452
    Its all part of God's plan
  • CazabubuCazabubu
    The religious aspect of this game is barely there and i hope it stays that way for the sake of the story.....
    Kirbinator93PC posted: »

    I mean if anything there is a LACK of religion in the games. They say God a few times but as others have said God does not ultimately mean r

  • Kirbinator93PCKirbinator93PC
    I agree. I don't see Telltale putting in anything religious anyways
    Cazabubu posted: »

    The religious aspect of this game is barely there and i hope it stays that way for the sake of the story.....

  • _Juice_Box__Juice_Box_
    It's somewhere on youtube (I forget where) but it's in the unused audio files of S1E2 and there was supposed to be a prayer scene before eating dinner and Clem said Amen and such... but yeah, I don't think religion should be described too much in the game, and yes, it's unreal for characters to believe when the world around them has gone to utter hell. I have a feeling they may have already stopped believing but they just say 'Oh my god' or whatever as a an expression (like OzzieMonkey stated). I've known atheists who say 'Bless you' or 'Oh my god' so it's not entirely unlikely.
  • _Juice_Box__Juice_Box_
    Well he did say S1E5 'I am a Christian man...' Although things change over time, you never know.
    Cazabubu posted: »

    Kenny swears alot while the swear word having a correlation to religion Like: "God Damnit!" And such....

  • _Juice_Box__Juice_Box_
    I hope you're joking.
    Alex452 posted: »

    Its all part of God's plan

  • Clem_TWDGClem_TWDG Banned
    It's possible? It's funny though, how you're a troll and you're trying to use that phrase to get a backlash... as if it's supposed to insult something.
    syxh87h posted: »

    Clementine is a Jew

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