Reply #3: The article has an interesting thesis on how this started in the 60s

[wildflower]

Snips from th next section of the article:

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A '60s hangover

Some observers trace the intrusion of religion and morality into politics to the sexual and social revolutions of the 1960s. Abortion and gay rights simply were not issues in the 1950s.

snip

Gertrude Himmelfarb, a historian who has written extensively about moral issues, argues that the '60s counterculture produced an overreaction that "denigrated precisely those values -- work, thrift, temperance, self-discipline" that help people get ahead in life.
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The last section is about the prevalence of religion in America & the blending of religion, morality and politics.

http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/4986723.html