"Full Frontal" host Samantha Bee began last night's episode by detailing the origin story of religious conservatives entering into the political arena.
"For a generation, they've been like a wasp in an airplane," Bee said of the new religious right. "They're small and outnumbered, but everyone still has to avoid pissing them off."
Though the religious right is such a fixture in modern American politics (even fielding a silver medal-winning presidential candidate), Bee said, "It wasn't always that way."
The rise of the religious right can be traced back to an anti-segregation measure proposed in 1978 by the IRS to revoke tax exemptions for private schools whose admissions discriminate by race.
"In 1972, the GOP platform didn't contain a single reference to God or religious issues," Bee explained. "But from 1980 onwards, the platform came to read like a Baptist dream journal."
The good news, Bee added, is that "the religious right has been losing ground for 15 years. Gay people can marry and serve in the military, and apart from a handful of bigoted bakers, most people are fine with it."
Watch the full segment below:
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