Zombies to the Zombies?

I have become a recent fan of AMC's The Walking Dead.  I've never considered myself a huge fan of anything zombie, but for some reason this show has hooked me and drawn me in. It's good. I like the action, I like the character development, and surprisingly, I like the sci-fi aspect to the show.  I've been watching copious amounts of the show on Netflix in an attempt to catch up so that I can watch season 3 which has just started. One of the things I have realized that I like about the show is that it is action packed, and there is violence, but since it's mostly against the zombies, I don't become exceedingly grossed out. I can't handle a lot of gore. There are still moments when I cringe, but it's nothing compared to the Saw films.

Then, because I'm me, I started to pick up on underlying themes in the series and started to contemplate what would be interesting to study and analyze in the series. I think the masculine depictions would be interesting. The anti-feminist sentiment that Lori seems to be attempting to push off onto the other female characters would be worthy of study. And I think the constant battle to establish who is alpha male would also be interesting.

So while I'm thinking about all of these things I happened to watch episode 9, "Triggerfinger," and for the first time while watching this post-apocalyptic show, I was genuinely horrified and slightly emotional for several reasons. *SPOILER ALERT*

1. Up until now, viewers had seen zombies die and be killed, no doubt, but they had been framed as evil, the bad guys, and problematic.  However, in this episode viewers are exposed to a different point of view, Hershel's point of view.  Hershel still views the zombies as humans who just happen to be ill.  You find out that he has been hoarding zombies in his barn and keeping them alive in hopes that he will find a cure for their "illness." Included in his barn are members of his community and his wife and step-daughter.  Hershel humanizes the zombies and calls them by their name instead of "walkers" like the other characters. In this sense, Hershel reveals that he still hopes there is humanity in the zombies.
2. There has never been an all out blatant massacre of zombies in the same way that is shown in this episode.  Viewers emotions have been pumped up into believing that maybe in fact, some of the zombies can be saved if a cure is found, however, Shane puts an end to that when he busts open the barn, releases the zombies, and shoots them all point blank (along with the help from Rick's crew). Flat out massacre. The image honestly reminded me of something from war, where you line the enemy up against a wall and release the firing squad upon them.
3. Shane has no emotion, no regret, no concern about killing all of the zombies in the way that he did, and for the first time, I as the viewer, started to think about all of the zombies that have been killed (or murdered?).

All of these things have been spinning in my mind and causing me to wonder if The Walking Dead is in a way, de-sensitizing us even more to violence and murder and gun abuse. In our mind, it doesn't matter that the zombies are dying and being killed because they are bad, but Hershel's point of view should make us stop and think.  At one point they were people. They were mothers, daughters, fathers, brothers, sisters, friends, etc. They were people who others cared about. And now the characters in the show can shoot and kill them (or chop their heads off or shoot them with an arrow) without a second thought. It concerns me how quickly the characters are able to give up on humanity, and how we in turn as viewers also give up.  

I'm not naive.  I know that zombies aren't real. And honestly, if this were a real situation, most likely I would do what was necessary to survive as well.  However, you can't deny that in some way, this show makes us see killing and murder in a completely different light. Is our consumption and commodification of zombies de-sensitizing us to the violence that is taken against them? Are we becoming zombies to the violence against zombies? 

Don't get me wrong, I will continue to watch The Walking Dead. I am admittedly addicted to the show and now I need to know what happens, but I will also be constantly battling with the violence against the zombies and questioning if it is in turn, de-sensitizing me to violence in real life.