Can Brad Pitt save us from the (secular) apocalypse?

In the opening scenes of World War Z, a news montage assaults the viewer. Clips document epidemics, wolves, global warming, reality television, pundits and others forms of dangerous nature. They evoke a world in seeming decline, in which one pivotal moment could lead to the global disaster from which we might not recover. Chaos and inevitable decline set the tone for the film.

But what ends us in World War Z are zombies. They appear from an outbreak of an unknown disease. Once bitten, humans turn into creatures seeking to spread infection. These zombies are quick and resourceful. They conquer walls by piling on top of one another; they take down helicopters. Strikingly, the zombies contort, twist, and make sounds similar to the velociraptors from Jurassic Park, complete with clicking jaws. The apocalypse occurs, with zombies squarely to blame. 

Zombie apocalypses appear everywhere these days: television, video games, smart phone apps, 5K runs, ad campaigns, political bumper stickers. And this is only one example of the burgeoning presence of secular apocalypticism since 1945.