Cultural taboos arise from a basic feature of the human mind

[Midnight Writer]

1. Conservatives know and exploit this.

"Social control theory...views taboos as mechanisms for maintaining social order"

That is why their rhetoric is peppered with words and phrase like "common sense", "everybody knows", "real men", "real patriots", "God-fearing people". It makes their pronouncements. ridiculous as they are, sound like they are the social norm and that any who don't "believe" are outsiders, perverse, enemies, threats.

It is also why many religious folks are so vulnerable to their messaging, because they have been raised to believe there is only one way, the Right Way or the Godly Way.