Atwood's Topic Proposal

The Handmaids Tale is a text full of mystery. The story leaves you guessing on almost every page. It is up to the reader to fill in the missing details as the story progresses. What I am questioning is how the people of the church overturned our system of checks and balances? In school and in the work place we as a country are always trying to respect others religious beliefs. In school we are asked not to say the Pledge of Allegiance because of the simple word “Amen” at the end. We were told that we were disrespecting those that did not believe in God. There was also no studying religion in public school systems. There are many other occasions where we as a country have had to walk on egg shells to respect others beliefs. Our government has always maintained a well working system to keep order in our country. So I want to know how the people of the church had enough power to overrule the government.
The topic I plan to research is how much power the people of the church really have. Obviously they took matters into their own hands about the declining birth rate and got the government to work in their favor. The people of the church either overturned it single handedly or manipulated it to work in their benefit. I chose this topic because throughout my reading I always wondered how our country could ever turn into what is happening in Atwood’s book. Researching this topic will help me understand the basis of the story and how it evolved.