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It is no secret that prominent religious leaders of the Christian Right have declared open war against secularism in all forms.  They've declared it responsible for all of society’s ills, ranging from the 9/11 attacks by Muslim fanatics to the natural disaster of the tsunami. They would like nothing better than to eliminate the "Wall of Separation" between religion and government, better known as church and state, entirely, believing a faith-based theocracy not only beneficial for the United States, but also for the world. Do the people who blindly go along with their leaders really know what kind of horrifying reality is being set up for them?

Novelist Margaret Atwood presented a clear and terrifying picture of a religious theocracy in her compelling – and chilling – book titled The Handmaid’s Tale. In the fictional Republic of Gilead, women are not allowed to read. They are also not allowed to hold jobs, have their own money, or gain access to knowledge. In short, they have no rights, period. Women whose ovaries still function are forced to become "handmaids" of couples who cannot produce children of their own. Handmaids have the unpleasant duty of having to submit to the male Commander of the house in the hope that a pregnancy will result, because they are only valued if their reproductive parts still work.

Moreover, under the theocratic regime, doctors who performed abortions for women in the 'old days' are publicly executed. Handmaids who try to run away are captured and brutally beaten as punishment. Women who either refuse to become handmaids or are simply too old to carry and bear children are sent away to work at toxic waste dumps, where the deadly chemicals to which they are exposed will save the new state the trouble of executing them.



Fiction Or Fact?



Of course, The Handmaid’s Tale is fiction, and there are those who say living in a religious theocracy wouldn’t be that bad. They obviously have forgotten the brutal policies of the Taliban, who officially ruled Afghanistan for several years, and in some parts of that country, have never left. Under their 'benevolent' rule, women wore the dreaded bhurka, a garment that literally covered women from head to toe, with only a woman’s eyes visible. Women weren’t allowed to drive, even if the nearest market was miles away. They were forced to walk, often carrying heavy bags, and under the suffocating heat of the sun. They weren’t allowed to speak to any men other than their husbands, fathers, or other male relatives.

In many parts of the Middle East, women are still treated as third-class citizens. They can have no opinion, and certainly no vote in their choice of a husband. It is a matter for a woman’s father to decide, and whether her prospective husband will be kind or abusive is irrelevant. Women must be virgins at the time they marry, and to make sure they remain so, they are forced to endure the brutality of female circumcision, or cliterodectomy. For anyone unfamiliar with the term, this is the removal of the female clitoris, which provides pleasure and comfort for women during intercourse. Female circumcisions are performed when girls are very young, usually from the age of eight upward.