The Handmaid's Tale...

[WCGreen]

First a book by Margaret Atwood then a movie staring Faye Dunaway and the late Natasha Richardson.

It's come to the name from the Genesis tale of Abraham using Hagar as a way to sire an heir when Sarah could not. It was all about full filling a vision Abraham had telling him he would be the father of great nations.

When later it turned out that Sarah was not barren, Hagar and her son Ishmael were banned from Abraham's clan and went off to start a blood line that eventually ended with Mohammad.

Anyway, having an heir was really important so that property could survive the death of the patriarch of the clan.

So read the book or watch the movie to get an idea how things would turn out if the Christians had their way.

[TBF]

1. Agree - it is one of my favorite books. nt

[JustAnotherGen]

2. Rec

So many Serena Joys out there . . .

[no_hypocrisy]

3. If you want a biblical twist on the Israeli-Arab conflict on claims on the land called Israeli

or Palestine, one can say it's based on whose God and which son had inheritance rights to the land. Was it the eldest, Ishmael (Islam) or was it Isaac (Judaism)? The eldest in biblical law had first claim to inheritance, but in the Old Testament, it's the first son of the wife who inherits.

A blood feud between the descendents of half brothers . . . .

On edit: I'm sorry. This subthread is a non-sequitor re. Handmaid's Tale.

[haikugal]

5. Religion Is A Curse...

[indurancevile]

11. according to one of my relatives, that's the reason arabs & israelis are fighting

& have fought all through history.

though they haven't.

[WCGreen]

12. But it sure shows how deep this rift in the middle east goes.....

It's amazing that this all kind of festered under the kid until the western powers returned to the middle east in the 1700's...

[chefhenry]

18. the book

religion is man (people) made

[chefhenry]

19. arab-jew conflict

just like all war, it's driven by money. people make money on war.

[libodem]

4. I just finished

THE YEAR OF THE FLOOD by the author. I have to reyour recommend. I read THE SOURCE a about the Jews. Quite enlightening.

[WCGreen]

13. I think the Source was the book that opened my eyes to the value

of history as a vocation and an integral part of a well rounded education.

[Curmudgeoness]

6. Agree totally....great story, incredible lesson on "watch what you wish for"

This is one of those books that everyone should have to read (along with The Jungle).

[chefhenry]

17. the book

very, very scary....to think some people actually would like our world to be like this

[dtexdem]

7. Yeah, I keep thinking of it as of late.

Just something about the current environment, especially the "religious" contents of that environment.

[kestrel91316]

8. The Handmaid's Tale is the Dominionists' playbook.

[lapislzi]

9. You beat me to it.

For them, it's not fiction, it's an instruction manual.

[Xithras]

10. The uplifting part of that story is the epilogue...

...no matter how evil and authoritarian a government is, it eventually falls.

I always though that Atwood's conclusion of the story was brilliant. You learn that the Handmades Tale is the transcription of a journal, much like Anne Frank's, being studied by the enlightened and free society that eventually arose after Gilead's collapse. It gave a bit of hope to the story when you realized that, no matter how dystopian the world had become, a better future awaited it.

That's where I place my faith. Even if the Tea Party were to win tomorrow and consign us all to a dystopian future, I'd go to my grave believing that their society would collapse one day and be replaced with something better. Something freer. Authoritarian societies cannot stand forever.

[WCGreen]

14. I had the pleasure of hearing Ms. Atwood speak a few years ago...

Wonderful woman and an outstanding author.

[Quantess]

15. Thanks for the reminder.

I still haven't read it or seen it.

[chefhenry]

16. the book

you should read it.....it's a good description of what right-wing conservative would want our country to be like