Margaret Atwood is publicly recognized for creating works with enigmatic female characters and open-ended stories while examining contemporary urban life and sexual politics. The critical perspectives he describes throughout the book will cause some to feel discouraged. Atwood reveals an entire dystopian world based on the world we live in today and includes some societal issues, such as radicalism, totalitarianism, and feminism. However, a crucial part of the society Atwood creates is religion. Although Atwood seems to criticize radicalism, he only believes that faith can have very bad consequences when abuse of power takes over. According to Atwood, it is “not a question of religion that makes people behave badly; it's about humans getting power and then wanting more” (Williams). Atwood reveals the depersonalization of religion and its oppressive effects when a society distorts the interpretation of a sacred text. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Within Gilead society, religion is used to justify the radical ideas that have been forced upon everyone. Atwood purposely creates the Red Center with the aunts to brainwash the handmaids while using Bible verses to tell them that their only job is to have children. The aunts repeatedly recited biblical stories such as “God to Adam, God to Noah, be fruitful, multiply and restore the truth” (Atwood 88). God told them to be fruitful and multiply to indicate that God has blessed them with more of God's children. Society interprets the text too literally to the point of creating a class system for fertile women. However, this is a ploy to create a surface of superiority due to the elimination of others with different religions, such as Muslims and Jews. Karen Stein argues that “Gilead reads the biblical text literally and makes it the basis for state-sanctioned rape…and turns a woman's desire into an instrument of male control” (195). Stein's analysis referred to the story of Rachel and Leah, two sisters married by Jacob. Initially, Jacob loved Rachel more; however, God counteracted the lack of love Leah received by allowing her to have children but preventing Rachel from having children. Society uses this story to illustrate that the primary purpose of a woman's body is to be vessels of life. The principles of Gilead “promote the idea that the primary purpose of the system is to protect women, while the real purpose is to control them and reinforce the idea that their biology is their destiny” (Freibert 15). The Red Center trains Handmaids to pray for emptiness, such as denial, sperm and children. Therefore, religion appears to be a controlling factor towards women. Because of the pretext of the repopulation program, the people of Gilead reveal a story from the Bible and misinterpret it; therefore, there is more chaos and disorder in society. The sacred text went from a balm for believers to an irritant for society. The Republic not only distorted the meaning of biblical stories, but it also distorted the act of prayer. In this dystopian society, the depersonalization of religion reaches the next level when prayers become computerized. When Offred and Ofglen went for a walk, both Handmaids passed a Soul Scrolls store, which is "a franchise found in every town and suburb and known to make a lot of profit" (Atwood 166). The shops have machines that print some prayers for the citizens of Gilead. These machines show hypocritical use andsuperficial and the abuse of religion that Gilead imposes on its society. The concept of Soul Scrolls is ironic because prayers are supposed to be free and come from deep within the heart; however, it must be paid to Gilead. A prayer is a way of communicating openly with God and was “once a human act of devotion and commitment that has been automated, quantified, rendered excessive, and, in its utter tastelessness, obscene” (Filipczak 175). When one prays, it is simply a request for help or an expression of thanks to God. In Gilead, the prayers of the Soul Scrolls are offensive to the moral principles of Christianity. According to Filipczak, prayers are now seen as obsessive and robotic and there is no longer any special meaning behind the prayers. Soul Scrolls “are supposed to be a sign of piety and loyalty to the regime… commanders' wives do this a lot and it helps their husbands' careers” (Atwood 167). The prayers appear to be a sign of loyalty to the regime but give the impression that it is just a publicity stunt for the commanders' wives. Atwood discovers that the sole purpose of the Soul Scrolls is to make wives feel pious without any real effort. In Gilead, God is seen as a “national resource, underscoring the manipulative function of pseudo-religion” (Filipczak 45). A pseudo-Christian religion is a group of people who follow leaders who claim to be fundamentalist Christians and teach true Christian doctrines. However, the group, in reality, distorts the fundamental and distinctive doctrines of the Christian faith. An example of pseudo-religion in The Handmaid's Tale are the Soul Scrolls which demonstrate the abuse of religion and the dehumanizing effects of radicalism. The Handmaids face oppression across many aspects of society, but the Ceremony clearly illustrates the dehumanizing effects of society. The Ceremony is a ritualized sexual act in which the Handmaid and the Commander have sexual intercourse while the Wife holds the Handmaid during the process. Before the ceremony begins, the Commander "reads the locked Bible to the Handmaids, who cannot read it themselves" (Atwood 87). The Republic bans people from reading the Bible so that the government can continue to use it without questioning. The locked Bible became “an incendiary device… a lethal instrument because the regime makes it generate oppressive laws” (Filipczak 41). The Bible becomes a symbol of hierarchy and a dangerous tool in society, instead of simply being a sacred text. Filipczak refers to the Bible as an “incendiary device,” which is basically a combustible device designed to cause fires. By creating oppressive laws, it defeats the purpose of Bible quotes and meanings. The Ceremony also shows the patriarchal nature of this particular society. During the ceremony, the Commander cleared his throat and said, “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout all the earth, to acknowledge himself strong in behalf of those whose hearts are perfect toward him” (Atwood 92). The Commander is in charge of the Ceremony process and everyone around him automatically assumes it's time to stop praying just from the way he clears his throat. The quote comes from 2 Chronicles 16:9 and means that God has chosen men and women to do His work and is looking for a person whose heart is completely toward Him. To show that the Commander was behaving reasonably and, at the same time, to prevent suspicions from arising, the Commander uses a Bible verse to support himself. Due to forced religious rules, the Republic is detached from reality and freedom. Therefore, curiosity becomes evident as an effect of rulesrigorous. Some might say that curiosity is the most powerful thing you can possess. During Offred and Ofglen's walk, both Handmaids pass by a Soul Scroll shop and had an important moment when they both look at each other through the reflected glass of the window. The event is fraught with risk, and Ofglen proceeds to ask Offred, "Do you think God listens to these machines?" (Atwood 168). This forbidden conversation seemed like a rush of blood to Offred, a sign of rebellion. However, Diglen's own curiosity separates himself from those who are simply going through the motions because he implied that it was betrayal; it is an indication that it is different from the others and is more likely to rebel more. Her investigation represents suspicions that begin to emerge within society, and she begins to realize that Gilead's system is based on hypocrisy. God is sovereign and can certainly choose to answer any appropriate prayer. To answer Diglen's question, God does not listen to machines for personal and selfish reasons, out of iniquity in their hearts, and to offer God an unworthy service. Society creates “a system that recognizes divine power but relies heavily on human control; the system does not allow for resistance or dissent” (Freibert 14). Society emphasizes religion but now everyone relies on the human control that Freibert refers to. They are all forced to pray for the children and ask for prayers through a machine. The depersonalization of religion in Gilead society results in unanswered prayers. After realizing that the praying machines don't work, Offred decides that "she will say her prayers tonight" (Atwood 194). So far in the book, it seemed unlikely that the characters in The Handmaid's Tale would pray on their own, unless the regime told them to. This is truly the first time Offred decides to say her own prayer and that action itself is an act of resistance to the oppressive society. Instead of adapting to society, she decides to now build a personal relationship with God, which will help her overcome the abuse she is suffering. Lucy M. Freibert states that “Offred realizes that an embodied imagination offers the real potential for freedom…and this self-generation frees her from the limitation of biological determinism” (17). Biological determinism is the idea that most human characteristics are determined at birth by hereditary factors passed from parents to offspring. The biblical sources used by society cause biological determinism and women's gender roles to be prominent. With the use of her imagination, Offred escapes from society. Another act of rebellion by Offred occurs during the Ceremony and she decides to silently pray nolite te bastardes carborundorum because "[she] didn't know what else [she] could say to God" (Atwood 90), even though she was unaware of the meaning. The writing she found in the wardrobe is her mantra and it gives her comfort and joy to recite it internally, even when she should be praying with others. Offred is able to find comfort in the oppressive society through her prayers. Although society imposes religion on the Republic, Offred is able to establish her personal relationship with God by saying her private prayer. Throughout the book, Offred struggles with her identity as a Handmaid. One way she addresses self-denial was to talk about her past by mentioning stories of her childhood with her feminist mother, her relationship with Luke, and her final moments with her daughter. As the book progressed, the conflicts surrounding Offred became more intricate, especially due to her new secret relationship with the Commander. In difficult times, Offred has no choice but to pray: “…sit.