This past Sunday I presented the Sunday sermon at a local Unitarian Universalist (UU) church. The minister there does a fun thing each October and picks a Halloween theme to focus the sermons around for the month. This year he chose monsters. I wanted to keep with his theme and decided I would focus my sermon on zombies. When I wrote the sermon, there was only one major war going on in the world and that was in Ukraine. Since I wrote my zombie sermon, we now have another tragedy on our hands with terrorism in Israel and Gaza.
My household keeps up with world news. American news has been so focused on the impending implosion of our own government that the headlines about tension in the Middle East never made it across my television. That is until October 7, when Hamas started cross-border raids from Gaza and Israel retaliated. Religious terrorism is once again a trending topic.
How You Become a Zombie
My UU zombie sermon was non-religious. I’m not a UU and this congregation is more Christian leaning than other UU congregations I know. So, I did not want to turn them off by using a lot of Pagan language or bring the gods into it. You can give a morality tale without religion – one of things the Unitarian Universalists are good at. The core message from my sermon was that people can become “real world” zombies by disconnecting from friends, family, and their community. People can become so empty and isolated that they have some of the same characteristics as zombies. How does this happen? It happens when people disengage from society and withdraw. They stop learning and growing and trying to be involved in their communities or society at large. Becoming a zombie is a choice people make (not necessarily on purpose) when they stop making the effort to reach out to others, communicate with them and keep up with that is happening in their loved ones’ lives. These types of people become isolated, lonely, probably angry and get left behind by the world. Zombies can also be people who become brainwashed by politics or capitalism or internet influencers, and become obsessed with gadgets, fashion, trends, or fringe politics and conspiracy theories. Many of us have lost loved ones to things like this over the last few years.
What does Terrorism have to do with Zombies?
As a Pagan and an outsider to Abrahamic faiths, it is easy for me to point the finger at their religion as the source of the problem. People have been fighting wars in the name of their gods for hundreds of years, probably longer. This war is no different. Therefore, it could be easy to say that Hamas and other terrorist groups have fallen into the brainwashed zombie category. The people in Hamas and other similar terrorist organizations have been indoctrinated with fringe beliefs. They have been fed the most hateful propaganda their religion can muster. Then they are convinced that everyone who is not part of their terrorist group is the enemy.
If a person has joined a terrorist group, there is a good chance that being on the outside of that madness, you are not going to be able to communicate with them. Terrorist groups remind me of cults. Once you are in, it is the group against the world. Isolation from loved ones is one of the first things that happens in a cult. You have to be completely separated from the outside world so that you can be more easily controlled. If you’re still talking to friends, or watching the news, you might figure out that things are not exactly as presented by your terrorist or cult leader. Your terrorist zombie is not going to answer your calls or return your texts. They are only going to communicate with people who have adopted the same beliefs and want to be validated in their choices.
Can We Save the Zombies?
Let’s say you have a real-world zombie in your life. Someone who doesn’t go out or have any interests, someone who never calls you or who never comes over for dinner even though you invite them every time you do manage to talk to them. These types of zombies can change, although it may not happen. We have a much better chance of getting these zombies back into society than we do a person who has joined a terrorist cult. I am not sure that terrorist can be reasoned with, and that seems to be the consensus among those fighting in these wars. We cannot control Hamas or Israel, or any terrorist group or cult. Nor can we control the zombie-like people we know. We can only control ourselves and make the best decisions we can. I do encourage you to reach out to your real-world zombies as often as you can. You’re probably not going to convince them to get out or change their habits – although you might eventually – but you will be doing your part. As I said in my sermon, those of us who are engaged in our communities, who show up and try, we have a duty to ourselves and to society to reach out to our zombies. Just because a zombie has fallen into cycle of isolation doesn’t mean they are bad people or that they do not have something positive to offer to the world. We reach out to them for our own wellbeing, so no matter how the zombie reacts, we know we did the best we could and that we made an effort. Which is a lot more than the average zombie is going to do.
What Can Pagans Do?
I have no idea how the conflict between Hamas and Israel is going to end. Or how things are going to be resolved in Ukraine. I know that I, and many Pagans who I have spoken with on the matter, want things to be settled, for there to be peace as much as is possible. Pagans do not proselytize or look for converts. Pagans know that each person has a path to the Truth and we each walk that path alone. We do not often think that it is right for others to dictate what or how we believe and worship. You are probably not going to find many Pagans in terrorist groups. We are not big on conformity, and we love to talk.
If you feel so moved, say a prayer for the Middle East and Eastern Europe. Pray for those civilians caught in a war that they do not want. Pray for the souls of the dead. Samhain is fast approaching and the veil between the worlds is at its thinnest. There is a lot of traffic back and forth through that veil right now. I don’t feel like there is a lot we private citizens can do to stop these wars but perhaps if enough of us pray, perhaps the gods will take notice.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In