Religion in the Handmaid's Tale

            Religion is the foundation of Gilead’s formation. It is a republic based on religious dogma from the Old Testament skewed cover up the real wishes of the Gilead elite.

            Their use of Christianity is only a means to an end. There’s never any mention of people willingly praying, going to church, or even using the accepted greetings of their own accord. They do these things out of fear, fear that they will be thrown out of civilization or worse, tortured and killed.

            The Christianity that we know is extremely different to the one that we are currently familiar with. In Gilead it’s normal for a married man to sleep with others besides his wife. It’s normal to treat the different genders differently and to prohibit anything deemed ‘sinful’.

            My family from my mother’s side is Catholic and if I were to illustrate the morals shown in the Handmaid’s Tale they would be disgusted. Not only that, but they would claim that the religion being followed isn’t a Christian one.

            I believe anything can be interpreted in many ways, and when you pick and choose from the bible, you could end up with anything you want. The very first part of the book illustrates three quotes, one of them justifying the use of handmaids. “and she said, behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her.” (Genesis) Does a simple quote from the bible make something acceptable? In The Republic of Gilead it does.

            During the women’s prayvaganza, we see the worst of this come to life. They’re using the old testament of the bible to justify inequality between the two sexes. “Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.” (233) This quote tells us that woman should be in constant subjection to men. Later on we hear him say, “Notwithstanding she shall be saved by childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.” This basically tells women that their only use in life and method to salvation is childbirth.

            If these ideas of inequality and injustice were brought to the modern times we would all be disgusted by them and reject them immediately, but through gradual change, indoctrination, and force, the Republic of Gilead was able to make this a reality.