I read some time ago an article by Balmer: http://chronicle.com/free/v52/i42/42b00601.htm
I summarize his argument as the following:
1) The leaders of the Religious Right are hypocrites; therefore, their policies must be wrong.
2) True Christians practice Christianity by proxy (using government as Robinhood to forcefully take from the rich in order to support the poor).
How about.. the efficacy for integrity of the evangelical movement is greatly reduced when it is tied to the state?
Oh, and pluralism and tolerance are rather nice too.
