America as a Theocracy

As I read The Handmaid’s Tale, I cannot help but wonder what Margaret Atwood is trying to say about American society. Gilead is a society where the government is based entirely on religion, or at least what the government leaders are interpreting from the religion. It makes me wonder if this is Atwood’s way of pointing out and/or criticizing America and its tendency to sometimes let religious viewpoints influence our law. It is probably far-fetched, but why else would she choose America as her setting and why would she choose a theocracy?

As I read the story, I keep thinking that it seems really impossible that our government could ever become completely taken over by a religion. But then I think about certain laws that are always up for debate in our country (separation of church and state, abortion, gay marriage, etc.) and how our government still does allows religion to play a role in how these laws are decided. I do not want to come off as being overly liberal here, but it seems to me that our government still considers a lot of Christian values when making decisions regarding the laws of this country, even though our country claims to have a government separate from any particular kind of religion. Perhaps The Handmaid’s Tale is Atwood’s way of calling our bluff. Maybe she is trying to say that if we continue to allow religion to rule our land, then we may ultimately revert back to colonial America where religion REALLY ruled the way society was run. I know this is probably a stretch but it is what continually comes to my mind as I am reading. I am interested in hearing what other people think inspired Atwood to write this novel and her reasoning for the choices she made.