Curious link between ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ and a Trump Supreme Court pick
- President Donald Trump to pick another conservative for a lifelong spot on the nine-member Supreme Court bench
- Candidate Amy Coney Barrett was a purported member of a religious community facing renewed interest
Some have likened People of Praise, a self-described charismatic Christian community, to the totalitarian, male-dominated society of Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale.
Others call it an ultraconservative group with an unusual mix of Roman Catholic and Pentecostal traditions. Until 2018, it used the term ‘handmaid’ for its female leaders.
In any case there has been renewed interest in the group since US President Donald Trump put one of its purported members, Judge Amy Coney Barrett of the Seventh District Court of Appeals, on his shortlist of candidates for elevation to the Supreme Court.
The group has declined to confirm or deny whether Barrett was a member since a New York Times article in 2017 said she was in the group, citing unnamed current and former members.
The group’s spokesman, Sean Connolly, told Reuters that women were not considered subservient in People of Praise and that many hold leadership roles, such as directing schools and ministries.
Barrett did not immediately respond to requests for comment made through a clerk at the Seventh Circuit. Sharon Loftus, a judicial assistant to Barrett, said the judge’s policy was not to give interviews or comments to the media.