Tony Perkins begins his discussion of social conservatism by tracing the roots of politics and religion in the American ethos.  Perkins states there has always been an interwoven tapestry between American governance and traditional values and that one cannot stand without the other.  Perkins recounts how the social conservative movement began in the late 1970s between meetings with the conservative legend Paul Weyrich, Moral Majority founder Jerry Falwell, and Howard Phillips.  These meetings would lay the foundation for one of the most influential political movements in modern American history.  In every election since 1976, a substantial bloc of voters, now commonly referred to as “value voters,” base their voting decision on a candidate’s positions on social issues.