'Handmaid's Tale' and Theocracy

In Margaret Atwood's 'Handmaid's Tale,' the main character Offred lives in a government state where she has all full limitations placed on her social mobility. Within the theocratic state, women from all walks of life are stripped of their basic fundamental human rights, treated no better than servants or slaves. Recognizing the traditional stature of women in pre-modern society, the religious, eerily Christian, theocratic government follows the route of traditional institution and as a result demonstrates one of the key problems with theocracy.

Theocracy, or 'theological government,' is a stylization of government, like democracy or aristocracy, where the commanding force is religion. Unlike democracy, which praises the concept of open voting, public opinion and free market, a theocracy instead forces the dominance of a singular religion and concept in the face and throat of the people in the nation. Therefore, the similar expressions of multiple religions often found in government institutions such as democracy no longer play an effect.

As of right now, there is no major dictatorial theocratic authority in the world. There is too much open religious expression in the West for there to be a single religious takeover, and in terms of most Asian nations, there isn't a major expression of religious ideology that fundamentally takes control over the minds of multiple individuals.

The only theocratic republic on Earth as of now is Iran. The bodies of government are religious officials appointed by a single theocratic leader, and much of the policies of Iranian government reflect the beliefs and expressions of the Islam faith. As a result, much of the moral ethics of the Iranian institutions rely on the sole concept of the individual faith and expression of the Qur'an, the holy scripture of the Islamic religion, and serve as a testament to the guidelines of faith.

However, there has been a rapid decline in the power of the theocratic authority present in the Iranian state. Therefore, it demonstrates a sense of weakness within the confines of what a theocratic government stands for. Because the Iranian government cannot maintain a pure sense of totalitarian rule the way the Republic of Gilead can in 'Tale,' the weakness of theocracy bleeds through.

So why?
Theocracy requires total commitment to religious faith regardless of what the institution says. It means sacrificing all of your values and opinions to a single regulated faith, the way much of the population had in 'Tale.' It's simply impossible to completely convince the entire population of a single nation to believe all of the same things, especially in the eyes of a divine being not everyone is able to agree on.

While the Republic of Gilead seems to be a real example of a theocratic state that fundamentally works, in actuality the 'Eyes' still exist, and the concept of the theocratic underground is still and active part of the state. As a result, the government cannot completely control the faith of every individual with respect to their fundamental ethics and morals; as a result the government does not have a true sense of expression and represents the truest flaws prevalent in a theocratic government.

So the consensus?

Theocracy, in it's truest form, like communism, is impossible.