"God isn't real. He's-- I don't know if you have a concept of things people believe that aren't true because they're really emotionally compelling, but-- humans tend to project minds onto things? We yell at computers if they break, we beg poorly arranged piles of things not to fall down, and we made up a person who is running the entire universe because it is comforting for people to believe that."

"It... didn't sound comforting, it actually sounded pretty horrible."

"It depends on the person. Lots of people think everyone is saved if they ask for God's forgiveness, and everyone they know has, so they don't have to worry about themselves or people they love going to hell. And then it's just, like, there's this all-good person who's taking care of things and who has a plan for your life and you don't have to stop existing when you die."

"...but the hell idea doesn't sound comforting either. Or is that one real? And he doesn't sound all-good - and the plans don't seem to work very well -"

"People like thinking about people they despise getting punished. And... there's a lot you can explain with 'well, God is all-knowing, he knows better than I do' or 'God works in mysterious ways'-- that one's a cliche in our language--"

"This doesn't make any sense. Are you sure he's not real? How do you know?"

"Frankly, if he existed, people would be able to provide better evidence! Gileadites claim the world is six thousand years old when we have written records older than that, they claim that miracles used to happen but they mysteriously disappeared as soon as we got video recording technology and modern medical science..."

"Then how did this get so out of hand?"

"People want to believe in God. Especially when something horrible like the infertility crisis is happening. It makes them feel better to think it's all part of God's plan somehow."

"- but it's obviously horrible! Why would it be better if someone were doing it on purpose?"

"Because if you assume he's good then there might be some way it's not horrible that we're too short-sighted to see."

"But then you wouldn't be able to concentrate on fixing it!"

"Religious countries are actually doing best at fixing it because we can tell people 'we don't care if you don't want to have babies, God wants you to' and they'll believe us--"

"- people are being forced to have babies they don't even want?"

"Would you prefer humanity go extinct?"

"I don't want you to go extinct, but you have no concept of how - it's the exact opposite of -"

"I was so happy when I was sixteen and the tests said my ovaries were too fucked-up to have babies. I was a Gileadite then so I felt guilty about being happy, I was supposed to rejoice in being some old guy's Handmaid and having baby after baby, but I didn't want that, I just wanted to write..."

"When the - during the Oahkar occupation a lot of people were forced to have abortions," murmurs Sadrin.

"That's awful. We... we would never do that. Even criminals... if they can have babies we make them have babies."

"The Oahkars just did it to - almost every pregnant Voan at the time they rolled into a place. Becuase every Voan who didn't have a child that year was an Oahkar who could. Even if they had six already."

"Dear God. They killed your babies? That's just-- why would anyone-- I watched my mom miscarry baby after baby and it ruined her life and they forced you--"

"Because they wanted more for themselves! They run - they still run, the state still exists, it just pulled back - on a permissions system, get a blue to hand you a permission, even if you already have six - it's not fair and they didn't care about being fair."

"--The thing that people get out of God is that if that happened to a Gileadite they'd believe, really believe, that they get to meet their baby again and be happy forever in Heaven." 

"- it wouldn't be the same, though."

"It wouldn't. But it would be a comfort."