Jeff Bell of the Weekly Standard does an excellent job sketching the history of social conservatism and its continuing vitality. Click here. [Update: 12/17/07 As indicated below, I added a paragraph from this article to the post.]
A quote from his article:
The striking thing about the history of the left is its singleness of vision amid a breathtaking variety of means. [He offers a list].The goal of the left is the liberation of mankind from traditional institutions and codes of behavior, especially moral codes. It seeks a restoration (or achievement) of a state of nature, one of absolute individual liberty--universal happiness without the need for laws.
The proposed political way stations chosen by the left in its drive toward this vision have varied greatly. To name a few: abolition of private property (socialism); prohibition of Christianity and/or propagation by the political elite of a new civil religion to replace it; confiscatory taxation, especially at death; regulation of political speech to limit the ability of certain individuals or classes to affect politics; the takeover of education to instill new values and moral habits in the population; confiscation of privately held firearms; gradual phasing out of the nation-state; displacement of the traditional family in favor of child-rearing by an enlightened governmental elite; and the inversion of sexual morality to elevate recreational sex and reduce the prestige of procreative sex. This is, it must be emphasized, a partial list. . . . [I added this paragraph after the initial post].
His concluding paragraph:
Put aside the stereotypes. Whatever its virtues or flaws, social conservatism isn't going away. It is not, and never was, the crazy aunt in the attic. It continues to be the essential building block of Republican presidential majorities.
This article makes a significant contribution towards understanding our current cultural situation.