In USA history, our history, people have willingly believed absurdities and willingly committed, or at least approved, atrocities. Extremisms in US religion, politics, and in the divisions created by a capitalist society make this cycle difficult to break.
Women were united in their ambitious search for freedom and justice prior to the Reagan. This is what happened. The division was purposeful; the Republican party and Christian Nationalists benefited. No group or agenda poses more danger to our democracy than the Christian Nationalists.