Religion as a Tool of Control Essay

Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless adult male, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people (Marx 260). This statement implies that piety is a powerful concept that encourages people to accept their conditions instead of revolting against their plight. thus in the wrong hands, it can be perverted to justify un exceptional atrocities and so be functiond as a in additionl of oppression. In her un office, The Handmaids Tale, Marg art Atwood portrays a dystopian alliance, a fictional body politic called Gilead, whose rulers use the power of godliness to validate their terrifying personal agenda.She satirizes the policy-making system that uses faith to validate its mandate, and justify its more questionable laws. understandably the use of religious belief for political purposes is one of the central themes of the refreshful Atwood takes a site of fundamentalist religious beliefs followed by certain fringe elements in contemporary beau monde and takes them to their logical end to highlight their true magisterial nature. In Gilead, politics and religion go hand in hand. The Sons of Jacob use religion and psychological tactics to control the masses and bend them to their will. wherefore the republic makes extensive use of religious terminologies for example domestic servants are called Marthas referring to a domestic character in the rule book, the soldiers are called Angels while the topical anaesthetic police are the Guardians of the Faith. The ruling establishment officials are called the commandants of the near. Even the names of shopping stores have biblical references like entirely Flesh, Milk and Honey, Loaves and Fishes. The purpose of this extensive use of biblical language is to misdirect the people of Gilead into believing that their rulers enact the will of God Himself.Moreover the government only adopts certain aspects of Christianity while it shuns those that it finds inc onvenient. For example Aunt Lydia, a instructor to the handmaids, says Ive visualizeed to do without a lot of things, you get too attached to this material world and forget spiritual values. You must aim poverty of spirit. Blessed are the meek. (Atwood 110) at this point in the novel Offred notes that Aunt Lydia says nothing about inheriting the Earth. Thus the republic used religious justification to demand docile behavior from the handmaids.Therefore religion is used as a powerful political tool in Gilead. Women play a very limited role in Gileads society biblical allusions are used to weaken their status. A Commander makes the following speech at the womens prayvaganza. Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor usurp authority over the man, merely to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.Notwithstanding she shall be saved by childbea ring, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety. (273) Therefore, by displace an interpretation from a single biblical story the role of women is limited to reproduction. Moreover, in order to prevent the women from getting libertarian, secular ideas mass security review takes place in Gilead. The country is cut off from the outside world as it does not even allow international television to be broadcasted Offred notes this while watching the television Serena clicks the channel changer.Waves, colored zigzags, a wangle of sound it is the Montreal Satellite Station being blocked. (101) Furthermore all books deemed dissident by the republic are burned and women are not allowed to put down at all, the bible is kept under lock and key so that the Commanders can read out only those parts that are positive(p) by the government. Offreds commander reads out the following passage from the bible on the day of the monthly ceremony Give me children, or else I die. Am I in Gods stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the uterus?Behold my maid Bilhah. She shall bear fruit upon my knees, that I may in any case have children by her. (112) This biblical tale, nar hoged in the novel by the Commander, forms the hindquarters of the concept of a handmaid which is why it is given special logical implication in Gilead and it is also another one of the archaic stories from the bible that are used to enforce highly questionable obligations on women. Thus the women of Gilead are subjugated by a warped version of Christianity.Religion is suppositious to emancipate man. But The Handmaids Tale depicts a society in which it is used to shackle people, to brainwash them, to force them to conform to a lifestyle permitted by their government. Margaret Atwood compares the people living in Gileads restrictive society to rats trapped in a maze, she points out A rat in a maze is free to go anywhere as long as it stays in the maze(363). In accompaniment tho se that rebel to the established norms are dealt with harshly they are punished at a seudo-religious ceremony called the Particicution, where they are lynched to death by a consortium of women for false crimes they did not commit. Regarding this, the dissident handmaid, Ofglen remarks He wasnt a rapist at all, he was a political. He was one of ours. (350) What this entails is that the society in the novel is highly autocratic and it does not allow the freedom of expression, in fact it uses fear to control its citizens and induce their piety, as Offred notes We must discover good from a distance picturesque, like Dutch milkmaids on a wallpaper frieze.Soothing to the eye, the eyes, the Eyes, for thats who this show is for. Were off to the Prayvaganza to set up how obedient and pious we are. (266) This highlights the peoples inherent paranoia, the fear of being found unfaithful, that has been slowly cultivated into their hearts and minds. Truly the establishment defiles the true sp irit of religion by going against its very essence the spiritual liberation of mankind.The use of religion for political purposes is one of the central themes of the novel Atwood takes a set of religious beliefs followed by certain fringe elements in contemporary society and takes them to their logical end to highlight their true despotic nature. In conclusion, Margaret Atwood portrays a horrifying alternate reality in which religious fundamentalists dominate and religion comes to dictate every aspect of human life. The topic of religion carries a lot of significance in the novel in fact the novel serves as a warning against the extremist views held by many modernistic think tanks.