Like the puritans of old from England, the architects of Gilead thought that religion was too lax in their country so they decided they could do better by creating their own society. Instead of creating a tolerant society, they created a theocracy, a government in which the church and the state were one and the same. Moreover, they did not tolerate other religious belief systems. Like the Puritans, the society of Gilead has strict moral discipline and religious values, with traditional family values playing a big part. This includes men as the head of a family, reflected by the dominant role of the Commander. .
In the society, the men use religious moral law to justify systematically taking away the rights of women. They use only certain parts of the Bible, for example the Rachel and Bilhah story, which serve as justification for the men's rigid control of the avenues to satisfy desire. It also served as a method for stamping out every competing ideology, religious or not. This is an example of how language and narrative structure can be used in a text to manipulate a reader's interpretation of themes or ideas conveyed. The inclusion of the Rachel and Bilhah quote from the Bible is meant to demonstrate how the architects of Gilead created a discourse in order to oppress the members of their society and prevent them from rising up and revolting against the system. The way that the leaders used biblical allusions to justify their objectification of women evidences how a language structure can be manipulated by an author or authors to persuade people to accept their point of view. This can be paralleled to the way in which Margaret Atwood has developed her language and narrative structures within the text in order to persuade us to accept her opinion. .
Using religious terminology to describe people, ranks, and businesses whitewashes political immorality in pious language. It provides a reminder that the founders of Gilead insist they act on the authority of the Bible itself.
