The problem, Coyote, is that "conservative" and "fundamentalist" have become so entangled through the efforts of people like Michelle Bachman, Rick Santorum, and 80% of the Republicans in the Texas Legislature that it's difficult to peel them apart. I long for the days of Barry Goldwater, who at least (like yourself) used logic in arriving at conclusions.
"Conservative," like "liberal," carries too much baggage to even be a useful word in the USA today. We need to just adopt "Rethuglican" and Democ
RAT and call each other ugly names all the time instead of trying to solve our mutual problems.... :-(