America, once the self-declared land of the free, is hurtling towards something chillingly familiar—Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, but with worse food and even more guns. With Donald Trump poised for a return to power, the country stands on the brink of a far-right, theocratic nightmare, where civil liberties are stripped away in the name of religious extremism.

A Nation Under Religious Rule

The warning signs could not be clearer. Women’s rights are being systematically dismantled, with vast parts of the country now functioning as open-air prisons for pregnant women, thanks to draconian abortion bans. Judges are openly questioning contraception, same-sex marriage, and even basic anti-discrimination protections. Schools are becoming ideological battlegrounds, where science is rewritten to align with evangelical dogma, because nothing says progress like teaching children that Noah had pet dinosaurs.

Meanwhile, Trump’s allies are not just your usual crop of self-serving grifters looking to line their pockets. They are religious fundamentalists and true believers. These people genuinely see themselves as soldiers in a holy war to “reclaim” America. The separation of church and state is, at best, an inconvenience to be ignored, and at worst, an obstacle to be destroyed.

A Roadmap to Theocracy

History is full of cautionary tales about what happens when radical nationalism and religious fanaticism merge. Democracy is dismantled. Women, LGBTQ+ people, minorities, and political dissidents are systematically stripped of their rights. Dissent is crushed under the weight of “moral law.” Atwood’s Handmaid’s Tale was supposed to be a warning, not a blueprint, but it seems the American right have treated it more like a step-by-step policy proposal.

So, if you’re a right-thinking American who values democracy, personal freedom, and not being ruled by a cabal of Bible-thumping authoritarians, now might be a very good time to consider an exit strategy. Because once a country slides into theocracy, history tells us that it doesn’t simply stop—it tightens its grip.