Conservative politics in the UK came from a laissez faire approach to business during the industrial revolution. The idea that business was sanctimount, above all and should therefore be free to make its own decisions. Consequently they had no problem with child labour or enslaving entire nations because, afterall profit was king. It moved away from the old ideals of kindly paternalistic approach to poverty and believed in functionalism. The labour movement was a response to that. Conservatism here had no real religious base, in fact the opposite is true. It was the left who generally followed religious doctrine. There has been a lie amongst conservative types here and in the US that profits overall will eventually improve everyone's life. Certainly, in the west most people are fed and housed but the gap between rich and poor is huge. We just do not question some people's 'right' to be rich and this to me is wrong. No human has the right to more of the earth's resources than any other. If you then mix a 'god given right' or a belief that you are more blessed than any other people into the argument then you start to see some of the issues you have with the religious right in USA. Add to this the desire to keep the 'underdog down', divide working people by things like race, culture or religion and then try to maintain control with education, healthcare and diet then you have a toxic mix. My views are, paranoid as it seems, religion is social control at its best.