No one understands the difference between these two groups, but they come from extremely different philosophies. That's not to say that a lot of social conservatives don't believe parts of cultural conservatism (though, it would be difficult to believe all and be logically consistent) and vice versa, but they come from different places. I've been thinking about making this thread for a while, but the Stewart election really made me pull the trigger on this:
Social Conservatism- Rooted in support for traditional moral values, often through Christianity (or some sects of Judaism/Islam). The issues that they care about are issues of the moral majority. Abortion and gay/transgender issues get the most attention, but most of these voters are also opposed to secularism in general and to specific things like casual sex and pornography, at least on a personal basis.
Cultural Conservatism- This is based in a desire to conserve a type of culture. This often manifests itself in opposing immigration and Islam, as well as some other race-based controversies. It is not always explicitly racist, but it can get there on the fringe. The alt-right and alt-light are extreme examples of cultural conservatism, but not all cultural conservatives go that far. Still, its motivations are diametrically opposed to the motivations of social conservatism and people in this group are relatively secular in outlook. Most don't care about abortion or if they do, it's only because SJW feminists support it. Likewise, they may support pornography because some feminists don't like it. It's all about getting back at any group trying to change the culture.
The two groups, while neither on board completely, would say very different things about the #MeToo movement, for example:
Social Conservatives: "None of this would be happening if it weren't for the sexual revolution and the acceptance of meaningless sex and lack of family values"
Cultural Conservatives: "Who cares about the allegations. They're all from SJW feminazis anyway. Ignore them."
It's an important distinction to make. It helps explain things like why Donald Trump did so poorly in the GOP primaries among churchgoers and why relatively secular Chinese voters are flocking to the Tories en masse.
