Leah, one of Nathan's daughters, captures her fathers religious beliefs when she says, "my father wears his faith like the bronze breastplate of God's foot soldiers-. Because Nathan is forcing his ideals upon people he is indirectly using religion as a tool of control rather than an aid to inspire faith. As Nathan's character develops throughout the novel his religious ideals take complete control over his family, he refuses their entreaties to leave, even in the face of illness and escalating violence against whites. Eventually his beliefs cost him the life of one of his daughters. His religious beliefs are bombarded upon his family to the point where he creates a theocracy. .
In A Handmaids Tale, similarly to The Poisonwood Bible religion is used as a tool to further control the people of Gilead. Gilead is a theocracy "a government in which there is no separation between law and religion "and its vocabulary incorporates religious words and biblical references. Servants are called "Marthas- in reference to a domestic character in the New Testament; the local police are "Guardians of the Faith-; soldiers are "Angels-; and the Commanders are officially "Commanders of the Faithful."" The people accept it because they live in fear of what will happen if they disregard it. The commander is much like Nathan because they are both is in some ways a religious leaders who are forcing their religious beliefs upon society. .
Gilead was formed in response to the crisis caused by dramatically decreased birthrates, the state's entire structure, with its religious trappings and rigid political hierarchy, is built around a single goal: control of reproduction. The state tackles the problem head-on by assuming complete control of women's bodies, completely stripping them of any rights. Women cannot vote, hold property or jobs, read, or do anything else that might allow them to become subversive or independent.