Does anyone recognize the true right-wing threat of this century?

Actually, if you read the book and interviews Atwood has given, her influences when creating the Republic of Gilead was not just the American Christian Right but also the fundamentalist regime in Iran, particularly its "sumptuary laws" (which dictate how women should dress) as well as militant feminism. The latter may be surprising given that Atwood herself identifies as a feminist but she was very concerned by the censorious impulses of many radical feminists (such as Andrea Dworkin) who made alliances with Right-wing Christians over issues such as pornography. In the book, the character of Aunt Lydia says at one point "To be looked at is to be raped". This is a feminist slogan, not Christian.

Of course, if Atwood wrote a book about the plight of women under Islam in majority Islamic countries, it would not have been the bestseller. Projecting all the potential evil law and culture from some Islamic regimes into a cartoon of Christianity - Well, that's what an anti-Christian audience was ready to buy into, and she turned into a marketing triumph.