icon André De Shields “HIV is not a crime. But in 30 states, people are being imprisoned due to their HIV status,” announces Broadway icon André De Shields at the beginning of a new 60-second TV commercial.

In a new 60-second commercial launched just before Christmas and sponsored by HIV and AIDS drug maker Gilead, we see American actor, Tony Award winner and HIV patient André De Shields sitting directly in front of the camera saying simply: “HIV is not crime.”

Gilead is a strict, totalitarian regime that bases its laws and customs around only a very literal, fundamentalist interpretation of the Christian Bible.

Gilead practices a resurgent form of Puritan fundamentalism The Puritans were one of the religious groups that arose in England in the late 16th century, and mostly migrated to North America between 1630 and 1640.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Gilead (2) (gil`adh): (1) A son of Machir, grandson of Manasseh (Numbers 26:29,30). (2) The father of Jephthah (Judges 11:1,2). (3) A Gadite, the son of Michael (1 Chronicles 5:14).

Sometimes “Gilead” is used in a more general sense for all the region east of the Jordan River. The name Gilead first appears in the biblical account of the last meeting of Jacob and Laban (Gen. 31:21–22). After Israel defeated Sihon, the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh were assigned to the area.

The rise of the Christian right in "The Handmaid's Tale" draws from American history. To depict the authoritative world run by the extremely religious right in "The Handmaid's Tale," Atwood drew upon history - mainly, 17th-century Puritan theocracy in America and the political climate of the country in the early 1980s.

Christianity All citizens must follow only Gilead's own official version of Christianity. No other religion or belief system is tolerated; as Gilead rose to power, those of other faiths and of other Christian denominations were rounded up or forced to convert after a brief period of tolerance.

Gilead is explained in the Hebrew Bible as derived from the Hebrew words גלעד‎ gal‛êd, which in turn comes from gal ('heap, mound, hill') and ‛êd ('witness, testimony'). If that is the case, Gilead means 'heap [of stones] of testimony'. There is also an alternative theory that it means 'rocky region'.

The Handmaid's Tale is a futuristic dystopian novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood published in 1985. It is set in a near-future New England in a patriarchal, white supremacist, totalitarian theonomic state known as the Republic of Gilead, which has overthrown the United States government.

Gilead was a tribal group mentioned in Biblical passages which textual scholars attribute to early sources. In these sources, for example the Song of Deborah, the Gilead group is treated with equal status to the other Israelite tribes, while certain other tribes, including the Tribe of Manasseh, are absent.

In the King James translation of the Hebrew Bible, the term handmaid is applied to a female servant who serves her mistress, as in the case of Hagar being described as Sarah's handmaid, Zilpah being Leah's handmaid and Bilhah as Rachel's handmaid.