I don't agree with most of Ross Douthat's points here — that older social conservatives were more enthusiastic about Ted Cruz than Donald Trump doesn't make me think better of them; quite the opposite.
But it's worth noting that he makes a few good observations. Not all religious conservatives are rooting for Trump, and for a lot of of good reasons. Painting them with a single brush here is demonstrably unfair.
Trump's GOP ascendancy also demonstrates the dangers of a conservative movement that strips itself of all but the vaguest lip service to some sort of religious (Christian, at least) mission, to higher values. The GOP candidates of the past called for some measure of "compassionate conservatism," encouraged charity, spoke of family values; one could (and did) argue the matter, but at least that argument was possible.
Trump's life and policy package is, in contrast, one of materialistic extremism, of hedonism, of narcissism. He exemplifies in so many ways each of the Seven Deadly Sins (pride, envy, wrath, sloth, lust, avarice, gluttony). He preaches the values, even moral imperatives, of greed, of strength, of acquisition, of the narcissistic elevation of the self.
For decades, the Religious Right has warned of the threat of a religionless culture. They were right, at least for the GOP: tossing over the constraints of traditional Christianity in its leadership, "putting our Christian values on pause", has led us to this.
(The sole area I can find where Trump has adopted a position that will please the Religious Right is regarding abortion — https://goo.gl/Nexikj — as Douthat points out. This is, from a Religious Right perspective, an arguable justification for ignoring all the other non-Christian aspects of Trump's life and policy and apparent character — and I have no doubt that Trump is quite aware of this "Get out of trouble with the Religious Right free" card, too.)
In Defense of the Religious Right – The New York Times
Can social conservatives survive Donald Trump?
