When Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died, the door opened on one of those rare opportunities to tip the balance of the highest court in the U.S. It was the opportunity that one particular voting bloc had been waiting for: evangelical Christians. Now, we await a ruling in a case that has the potential to overturn Roe v. Wade – an outcome evangelical Christians have spent decades voting and lobbying for. So how did this religious group become such a powerful force in U.S. politics? In this episode, we examine how white evangelicalism in particular became linked to conservative political issues...beginning with a roaming Irish pastor in the 1800s.

If you would like to read more on the topic, here's a list:

• American Apocalypse: A History of Modern Evangelicalism by Matthew Sutton
• Apostles of Reason: The Crisis of Authority in American Evangelicalism by Molly Worthen
• Moral Combat: How Sex Divided American Christians and Fractured American Politics by Marie Griffith
• Thy Kingdom Come: How the Religious Right Distorts the Faith and Threatens America by Randall Balmer