As for the Christian-right, their cry of persecution is only because they aren't allowed set-up their theocratic rule over the country. Just like the South felt wronged, all because they weren't allowed to expand slavery to new territories and states.
That's only part of it. There is a large strand of evangelical christianity that isn't all in on Christian Nationalism.
But you are right to link it to the South and the Civil war. You have to remember that the move in the 80s to political evangelism was because they lost so badly on the civil rights issue. Abortion was their attempt to find something that looked "moral" since they had just been on the wrong side of one of the most important moral issues of the 20th century. The fact that their whole theology was based on justifying slavery has been a huge problem.
But rhuarc29 is correct.
MAGA
is an ideology, it just isn't one rooted in the kind of policy fights about budgets and governance and so on.
It's palignenetic ultranationalism.
The bit about resentment and angst of the status quo was real, the genius move was to realize how much of it was based in racism and cultural issues and could be exploited that way.
The GOP had been doing that for a while, but mostly made it clear that the people running the show didn't really believe in that part - they just wanted to use it to harness that anger.
Trump gave them the uncut version where it looked like he believed the same shit they did.
