Are we creating Gilead?
Laws of God and His Servants on Earth
Principle of Social Classes
See also: Social Classes
Gilead does not hold general equality before the law; the legal position of individuals is based on their affiliation to a certain social group called "class": While members of different classes can be sentenced variably for identical "crimes" (see Criminal Law), the individual legal protection within one social class appears uniform. In that spirit, the Gileadean class system "replaces" the Equal Protection Clause of the suspended Constitution of the United States.
Legal Specifics of Female Classes
Marital Status
Single (non-widowed) women in Gilead fear being classed as "Unwomen", i.e. stripped of any human rights[3], which means they can be detained arbitrarily to be executed or obliged to forced labor without trial[4][5]. However, prospective Unwomen are consistently offered to be married off or to "redeem" themselves as a Martha[6], Handmaid[7], or Jezebel[8].
Due Process
Unlike married women and known male classes[9], some classes of unmarried women like Marthas and Handmaids lack the right to a fair trial, and they have their mouth muzzled during trial when being charged.[10]
Ban on Owning Property
Women in Gilead aren't allowed to own property. Existing or acquired property is transferred to the next male relative[10], which includes non-linear relatives like nephews[3]. Exceptions may be made for the Widows of Commanders to inherit their estates, at least until they remarry.[11]
Ban on Literacy
Gileadean females who aren't classed as Aunts (or one of their subclasses) are not allowed to read or write. Any breach is punished by amputation of a finger or two or even an entire hand[12].
Criminal Law
Criminal law is absolute in Gilead, and is often based on biblical verses. Any rule-breaking or subversion is harshly punished. Criminals are often executed ("salvaged") and their bodies displayed on central places like the Wall as a severe warning; other punishments such as "Redemption" include mutilations (usually removal of body parts) or social reclassifications. There are so many executions in Gilead, the punishments for even fairly superficial crimes are so drastic and the methods of execution are sometimes so horrific (stonings, hangings, ripped apart by dogs, public shootings) that Gilead’s laws are effectively a cover for mass genocide.
Abortion
The ban of abortion in Gilead is a retroactive "ex post facto law",[13] which means all who have performed abortions prior to the rise of Gilead are put to death or even sent to the Colonies.[14] Those who have escaped Gilead remain threatened.
Adultery
See also: Adultery (main article)
Adultery is a punishable crime in Gilead, under reference to the Commandment Thou shalt not commit adultery (Exodus 20:14).
Gender Treachery
"Gender treachery" is a Gileadean euphemism for homosexuality. The punishments vary depending on the social class of the accused but are invariably severe.
<span {{[[Template:title="Source: {{{3}}}" |title="Source: {{{3}}}"]]}}>“Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones.” — Romans 1:26
Case study
Emily Malek and a woman known only as Martha 6715-301 are caught in a same-sex relationship, described as "gender treachery" under Gileadean law, supposdedly justified by the Biblical passage Romans 1:26-28. The Martha is sentenced to death by hanging and Emily is sentenced to a practice called "Redemption" where she is forced to undergo a clitorodectomy, a surgical procedure better known as female genital mutilation.[15] See also: Discriminatory Legal Practice
Possessing Contraceptives
After their witnessed Ceremony, June Osborne meets Commander Lawrence in the kitchen where he passes her a packet of birth-control pills. June remarks that under the laws of Gilead, anyone possessing contraceptives would be punished by being ripped apart by dogs ("Witness")
https://the-handmaids-tale.fandom.com/wiki/Laws_in_Gilead
What religion is Gilead based on?
Gilead is a strict, totalitarian regime that bases its laws and customs around only a very literal, fundamentalist interpretation of the Christian Bible.
What branch of Christianity is Gilead based on?
Gilead practices a resurgent form of Puritan fundamentalism
The Puritans were one of the religious groups that arose in England in the late 16th century, and mostly migrated to North America between 1630 and 1640.
What do the people of Gilead believe?
Values and beliefs
The Gilead leadership consists of members of a religious group who believe that their strict interpretation of the Bible is the absolute truth and that in order for people to achieve salvation and live a pure, godly life, they must follow these guidelines.
Did Gilead really exist?
Although Gilead and The Testaments are fictional, they hold a mirror up to the state of women's rights today. In the dystopian future of Gilead, women are enslaved, married off, raped, and denied their most fundamental human rights.
More about the practices of Gilead:
https://www.calendar-canada.ca/faq/what-religion-is-gilead-based-on
The Handmaid's Tale is NOT based on a true story. The drama is science fiction, set in a dystopian future where a totalitarian regime has overthrown the US government and created the Republic of Gilead. But the show, based on Margaret Atwood's 1985 novel of the same name, is inspired by religious and political history.
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