People are fascinated in zombies because they behave the exact opposite of what is considered moral and right. They are an incarnation of evil in human form. According to one blog, zombies are:

-quote-

1. Zombies can be your mother, your brother, your drinking buddy, but they are no longer your friend.

2. They carry a virus that is spread by their bite. The virus comes from outer space or more likely - the government.

3. They can only be stopped by dismantling their brain or severing their head from their body.

4. Zombies feast on human flesh and won't stop until they've consumed every last living human.

5. They have no emotion or feeling. You can't reason with them or tame them.

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I have written a lot of articles over the years for multiple pulications about the symbolism of zombies. There are many aspects that make zombies a focus for religious reflection.

Religion can be found in any area that makes us question what we have leared about religion, faith, morality, or ethics. People often find religion in horror movies as horror movies deal with fear. Often, in troubled times (like 9/11, the recession) we find people going back to church in droves. We are made to believe that the church is the place to turn when fears are at their greatest. Many manifestations of fear, and the questioning of our religious upbrinings step up to the plate in zombie movies.

First off, you have the issue of the Biblical line about the end of the world that reads, "and the dead shall rise from the grave." There are many that have grown up believing that one of the signs of the end of the world will be that the dead will come back. Zombie movies hold dear to this notion.

This rases another question - if the dead are coming back from the dead, is there something wrong with heaven? Have the gates closed?

Zombies are also a metaphor for not allowing your problems to pile up. One zombie alone is easy to deal with. If you come across multiple zombies, they are much harder to deal with. This points out that people should not allow their problems to pile up, they should take care of them once they pop up. There are some religions that teach this in a spiritual manner along the lines that if a person realizes that they are sinning, they should take care of it at the moment.

Next, you have the savior issue. In almost every zombie story, there is an instance in which characters have their back up against the wall, and are set for death. Low and behold another character is tossed in that is able to save them by causing a distraction, unleashing firepower, or ultimately giving his or her like so that the others can get away. Ultimate sacrifice in this way should be easy to point to when it comes to religious significance.

Almost every religion teaches that the body is sacred. Zombies are creatures that defile the body. Not only the ones that they eat, but the ones that they inhabit.

Next, you have the issue of the soul. I remember hearing a priest speaking about zombies one time. This priest was very old, and stated that he found zombie movies very disheartening due to the fact that we never know what happens to the souls of the dead.

There is the aspect of resurrection. Christians believe that one of the greatest events in history is the resurrection of Jesus. They point to this faith-driven event as one that separates Jesus from the common man. If the common man is being resurrected as a zombie, they are on par with an aspect of Jesus, and are resurrected to a new life.

Don't forget about the entire, "Eat of my flesh and drink of my blood." This is another religious point that has been brought into zombie movies over the years.

One issue that I have with the article that you suggested, is that I do not think that it went far enough explaining some of the metaphors that I pointed out here. Most of them were overlooked.

As a writer, though, I understand about space issues when writing articles. I have often submitted long articles that I thought were meaningful only to have a client cut it in half, and lose some of the finer points. I will give the writer the benefit of the doubt that maybe the editor pulled out the red pen and tok out some of the finer points.

Zombies are the antithesis of the faith aspect of all the religious traditions. They are an archetype that represents the loss of our humanity and capacity for spiritual development. They are like walking flesh in limbo.

Regarding the statement in the article: “We live in a time where we talk about ‘zombie banks’ and ‘zombie corporations’ – the economic equivalent of the walking dead …,” he says. “This points to a bigger anxiety about an ‘apocalypse’ in which the familiar secure structures of our lives fall apart - in the face of economic collapse …”, use of the "zombie" label is a strong symbol of how we see that we are out of control and the aspects of zombie characteristics can become manifest in our society and take it down the road of inhumanity and spiritual bankruptcy.

It is also mentioned by Garver, in support of this supposition, that "zombies represent “human desire at its more unconstrained: ravenous and relentless.”

Perhaps our cultures' fascination of zombies is a reflection of an unconscious need to contrast ourselves with all that zombies represent, as Garver says “They represent our basic fears of death, decay and desecration. Who wants to grow old, become ill and be isolated from our loved ones or a chance at redemption." I think it sad and silly to use this in this way, when we can build faith in many other ways and invest in ourselves and our society.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_belief
According to Wikipedia.....a religious belief refers to a mental state in which faith is is put in the super-natural among other things. Like God, Vampires...people put their faith in both....Zombies falls into the category of the super-natural. So, I imagine it is possible to find faith in the undead. I however would not. Those guys are frieking scary and make me want to wet my pants.