Many of the denominations that came out of the Reformation understood the Gospel (and indeed, all of the Bible) as speaking to more than just the salvation of individual souls. IMO it's when a church holds to this larger Reformational view, where the Bible is seen as having specific application to all of society (as opposed to offering only "general principles" such as "love" or "fairness" or "justice") that churches become - and stay - "conservative" in the social realm.
My experience of Bible Belt Protestantism is that it is very different from classical Reformation Protestantism, and also that it addresses only personal salvation (though that has tended to change in recent years as Fundamentalists have become more politically active). I can remember when the Millenium was the only solution offered to the world's problems, but now Millenialism is rapidly disappearing. As in the days of Constantine, the prospect of chr*stian political power seems to make it "unnecessary."
I'm glad there are solid conservative priests out there. I've simply never encountered one (other than some of the rightwing dissidents). I'm not saying that Catholic priests should preach "windsucker" style (city Fundamentalist churches tend to have actual sermons with theological content while churches in the country sound like cattle auctions). But whenever an American Catholic bishop says anything--eeew!!!
Oddly enough, Catholic priests will go to great lengths to preach in traditional Fundamentalist Protestant style to Black congregations because that is considered "culture" rather than religion. Rural white Fundamentalists have a very similar style of preaching, but because they are non-ethnic (ie, Anglo-Saxon or Anglo-Celtic) this is considered "religion" rather than culture and there is no move whatsoever to accommodate them.
As to women preachers, the thing is that down here there are lots of little Pentecostal sects with women preachers and they are every bit as conservative as the men. Once again, liberalism cannot be blamed on femininity alone any more than it can be blamed on the influence of the laity. Rather, something else is at work here. That's the thing I'm trying to get a handle on.