2016 Postmortem

Abortion. There is one additional factor though I think. Conservatives these days paint themselves as the persecuted minority, and no more so than in the religious conservatism. I see that in members of my own faith and it drives me nuts, but they will point to the scriptures and argue that we know that in the last days that Christians will be persecuted.

Since they believe that they are going to be persecuted, any sort of disagreement or opposition is treated as persecution. You can place this within the larger context that despite having the bulk of political power in the United States White Male Conservatives believe themselves to be persecuted, and when you through religion on to that pile that's just one more thing to feel persecuted over.

It also allows them to mythologize supposed attacks on them; rather than simple disagreements or different points of views, statements by those outside the tribe are attacks and persecution. Instead of seeing themselves as comfortable middle class people without any real worries who are fighting to make sure they don't lose any of their pie, they are heroic defenders of christian values who are heroically standing up to societal persecution.

Bryant