Josh I agree with much of your comment, however, there is a large contingency of Evangelicals and conservative Catholics who thoroughly blend politics with religion in a firm desire to set up a theocracy.  AB Chaput, Fr McCloskey, and Church Militant are examples of this, but I could cite a whole host of other Catholic groups with the same kind of mission, and it's not just limited to the US.  It's becoming a global phenomenon.  The root is authoritarianism.