Randall Balmer on the origins of the contemporary religious right

If you believe the evangelical conservative movement as a political force was about abortion (and/or gay rights), you’ll never really properly understand American politics. Balmer:

But the abortion myth quickly collapses under historical scrutiny. In fact, it wasn’t until 1979—a full six years after Roe—that evangelical leaders, at the behest of conservative activist Paul Weyrich, seized on abortion not for moral reasons, but as a rallying-cry to deny President Jimmy Carter a second term. Why? Because the anti-abortion crusade was more palatable than the religious right’s real motive: protecting segregated schools.

The whole thing is well worth reading. One question persists: how did something like this end up in “Tiger Beat on the Potomac?”